JP7612770B2 - Body lift system and body lift method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a body lift system for use in treatments including medical care, nursing, or caregiving, and having an insertion member that is inserted between a person in contact with a bed surface and the bed surface, a body lift system for use in treatments including medical care, nursing, or caregiving, and having an insertion member that is inserted between a person in contact with the bed surface and the bed surface, and a body lift method.

According to the 2016 White Paper on Ageing in Japan, the elderly population in Japan is 26.7%, and since 2007 the population over 65 has exceeded 21%, making it well known that Japan has become a super-aged society. Furthermore, the data on elderly care provided in the White Paper on Ageing in Japan indicates that the total proportion of people who require care level 4, meaning they have difficulty living an everyday life without care, and level 5, meaning they are almost unable to do so, is calculated to be 1% of Japan's total population, and it is estimated that approximately 1.3 million people in Japan are living with the close support of nurses and caregivers. People who spend their time temporarily or permanently in bed or on a futon (referred to as bedridden in this specification) range from those who can move around a little to those who are bedridden. In particular, bedridden people require nursing and care assistance for all important daily activities such as eating, hygiene, and excretion, and improving the quality of life (QOL) of bedridden people themselves and reducing the burden of assistance on nurses, caregivers, and other caregivers who are responsible for their care have become social issues.

Bedridden people have difficulty moving freely, and for many it is not easy to change their body shape even partially on the bed to lift any part of their body off the bed. As a result, the part of the underwear that comes into contact with the bed surface or the futon sheets is always pressed down by a specific part of the bedridden person's body, making it difficult to secure the space between the bed and a specific part of the body that is necessary for partial removal of underwear when wiping or defecating, complete removal of underwear when bathing or changing underwear, and when inserting a toilet or diaper. In addition, because they are bedridden, it is extremely difficult to secure the free space between the bed and the body, even if only temporarily, that is necessary for changing sheets or removing wrinkles in the sheets. Nurses and caregivers, for example, insert their upper limbs from the shoulders of a bedridden person to support their neck, and insert their hands slightly above the waist to create space to provide nursing care and respond to the needs of bedridden people, but the current situation is that it is not possible to meet all needs. In addition, there are bedridden people who have difficulty turning their bodies slightly, and for these bedridden people, the weight is always placed on the same part of the body, which can cause bedsores. The Japanese Society of Pressure Ulcers recommends that nurses and caregivers change the position of the person's body every two hours or less to change the part on which the weight is placed (Non-Patent Document 2).

The weight of an adult bedridden person is about 60 kg, so in hand care by nurses and caregivers, it is often necessary to support at least a part of the weight of about 60 kg with both hands or one hand, and there are many requests from nurses and caregivers to be able to use both hands freely to perform care such as excretion. Currently, in order to avoid invasiveness to bedridden people, nurses and caregivers themselves often take a mechanically unstable position when supporting the weight with one hand, for example, and unexpected forces and force moments are applied to places that the nurses and caregivers do not expect, which often causes back pain for nurses and caregivers, making prevention of back pain an important issue. In 1998, the Australian Nursing Federation (Victoria) proposed a no-lifting policy (a policy of not lifting the care recipient) to prevent back pain in nurses, and it is well known that the Japan No-Lift Association is active in Japan as well (Non-Patent Document 3). Preventing back pain is a more severe problem for caregivers who do not necessarily receive specialized training on positions to prevent back pain, such as in the case of home care, which has been increasing recently. In some cases, elderly people are caring for other elderly people, and providing technology that makes it easy to ensure free space between the bed or other surface and directly underneath the body of the person lying down has become a social issue.

Various devices and methods have been proposed that allow a nurse or caregiver to partially lift the body of a person in bed without inserting their hands between the bed and the person, or by inserting their hands only for a short time, and to be used for wiping, excretion, transfer, etc. As a method for creating space between the bed and the buttocks during excretion, Patent Document 1 proposes a buttocks-lifting device for changing diapers for bedridden elderly people, which is made of a drive device using pipes and a motor, and is configured to lift the legs along a circular orbit that rises by inverting a knee rug that is placed on the back of the knees backwards and can be stopped at any point. The buttocks-lifting device for changing diapers is proposed as a device that lifts both knees of the lower body while keeping the upper body in a lying state, and creates a space between the bed and the buttocks by moving the center of inversion from the hip joint to the waist.
Patent Document 2 also proposes a method in which the lower legs are placed on left and right leg support platforms that are pivoted on a U- or L-shaped frame called a lever, which is made of pipes, and the lower legs, thighs, and buttocks are raised by lifting the lever, creating space for wiping the private parts and changing diapers.

As a method of raising the hips, Patent Document 3 proposes a wedge-shaped air bag made by welding or gluing the edges of a vinyl or rubber sheet, placed under the upper body, and inflated with an air pump so that the hips are highest and there is a gentle slope from the back to the shoulders, thereby indirectly lifting the buttocks and creating a space between the bed surface and the buttocks of the person in bed, which can be used for changing diapers and wiping the buttocks.
Patent Document 4 also proposes a lumbar lifting device, in which a belt made of cotton cloth is placed on the bed sheets in advance and laid under the waist of the person being cared for. The belt is lifted by a lifting device consisting of pipes and an electric motor placed so as to straddle the person from above, creating a space between the bed surface and the buttocks of the person, which can be used for changing diapers and wiping the genitals.

Methods have also been proposed for lifting the entire body, not just parts of the body such as the buttocks and lower back. Patent Document 5 proposes a method in which multiple expandable and contractible air bags are arranged in parallel on the head, chest, lower back, buttocks, lower legs, etc., and air is supplied and exhausted to raise and lower the care recipient, reducing the caregiver's workload and preventing bedsores in the care recipient. In this method, a space can be formed between the bed surface and the body of the care recipient in the area where the air bags are not arranged.
Furthermore, Patent Document 6 proposes a method of lifting the entire body, which also allows for sheet changing, in which a belt, like a seat belt in an automobile, is passed only around parts of the patient's body that are easy to reach between the patient and the bed, such as the upper waist, thighs, and upper ankles, and the belt is attached to a T-square-like member located on the ceiling side as seen from the patient's side. The T-shaped member is then hoisted with a hoist, allowing the caregiver to move the elderly or sick person from the bed without exerting any effort.

Patent Document 7 describes a moving carrier for bedridden patients. Although there is no description of how to lay a net under the patient, it does state that the net can be attached to a hook wire and the wire can be rolled up, allowing the bedridden patient to be lifted from the bed and for tasks such as changing sheets, making the bed, and bathing to be performed by a single nurse.
Furthermore, Patent Document 8 describes a bed that allows easy sheet changing, in which a net or cloth is tied to a lift bar that is placed underneath a patient lying down, and by raising and lowering the lift bar, the patient can be raised and lowered above the futon or mattress on the bed, making it possible to change the sheets without having to manually lift the patient.
Furthermore, this document states that the net sling can be held in the hand and passed under the patient's body like a weaving shuttle.

Patent Document 9 proposes a method of creating a space by inserting a solid object between the bed and the patient. Specifically, a beam-like object called a lifting platform is inserted under the patient's lower back with the inside of the curve facing up, and the buttocks are raised about 10 cm with an oil jack, creating a space between the bed surface and the patient's body in front of and behind the lifting platform, which can be used for changing disposable diapers.
Patent Document 10 discloses that a plywood or polypropylene board about 50 cm long and 120 cm wide is used as a core under the body, thin sponges are placed on the top and bottom of the board, and a board about 5 mm thick with a polyester material or the like is inserted as a surface, and by lifting the board, the body is turned to the side, creating a space between the bed surface and the buttocks, making it possible to change diapers and sheets.It also functions as a stretcher when transferring from bed to bed.
Patent Document 11 describes a plate-shaped part that is inserted under the care recipient as a transfer device between beds, between a bed and a stretcher, etc. Although there is no description of the insertion method, a method is proposed in which the care recipient who has been transferred to the transfer device is pulled and moved to a bed or the like placed next to it.
Patent Document 12 describes a device that uses a sliding device divided into several pieces on the contact surface that comes into contact with the bed of a patient in a supine or semi-sitting position.The board is inserted so that the cared-for person in a lying position faces diagonally to the side, and by using the slide board, the cared-for person can be easily and quickly slid even if there are some unevenness, steps, gaps, or inclinations, or even if the user is hunched and cannot assume a horizontal position.

Patent Document 13 proposes a method for treating injured people, in which flat, elongated, strong arms for supporting loads are inserted through pipes that form the left and right ends of the frame, the arms are first pulled out to the outside of the frame, the patient is placed over the space inside the frame, the arms are then slid under the patient from both ends, the arms inserted from both sides avoid meeting each other so as not to pinch the patient, some arms support the patient in a cantilevered state with the left and right frames as fulcrums, and the frame is then lifted and moved. The parts of this device are described as being made of metal, plastic, wood, or other suitable material.
In addition, in Patent Document 14, the same inventor as in Patent Document 13 uses the frame of Patent Document 13, and in this document, the arms are made of steel, aluminum, or other alloys that are extremely rigid and strong enough to support body weight, and are combined with a device that moves up and down, and with a device that lifts it up and then moves it forward, to propose moving the patient and moving them to the operating table.
Patent Document 15, like Patent Documents 13 and 14, proposes a device for lifting people, proposing that a retractable arm be mechanically inserted under the patient on the bed, between the bed and the patient. Unlike Patent Documents 13 and 14, this uses a cantilever system in which the arm is inserted from only one side, with the other side not supported, and it also describes that for back care, the fulcrum of the cantilever is made to be a pivot system, and the legs are lowered on only one side, using the resulting gap for carrying out care.

Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 63-201532 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 4-75657 JP 2001-149395 A Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-24886 JP 2007-190150 A Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-342163 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-63079 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-19462 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-192178 Utility Model Registration No. 3134185 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-47513 JP 2008-212186 A U.S. Pat. No. 2,391,928 U.S. Pat. No. 3,015,114 U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,498

Yoko Aso, Tomoko Inoue, Sachiko Ujiie, "Basic Nursing Techniques", 7th edition, Japan, Igaku Shoin, February 15, 2011, P87-93 "Prevention of bedsores, 1. Methods and time intervals for changing positions," [online], Japan Society of Bedsores, [searched November 20, 2016], Internet <URL: http://www.jspu.org/jpn/patient/protect.html> "Objectives and Purposes of Establishment", [online], Japan Nolift Association, [searched on December 10, 2016], Internet <URL: http://www.nolift.jp/aboutus/>

Ensuring cleanliness is essential to improving the quality of life of bedridden people, whether they are infants, people with physical or mental disabilities, or the elderly. If possible, nursing and caregiving should include changing bedding sheets every day, wiping the bedridden person down, allowing them to go to the bathroom several times a day, and changing their position about once every two hours to prevent bedsores. Since infants are light in weight, this does not pose much of a problem, but in the case of bedridden adults weighing around 60 kg, nurses and caregivers are unable to lift them on their own, and even then they often push themselves too hard, so preventing back pain for nurses and caregivers is also an important issue.

For example, changing sheets and removing wrinkles on sheets, which are to be performed daily for bedridden people, can be easily performed if a free, non-contact space can be maintained for about one minute over the entire area between the bed surface and the person directly below. In addition, in wiping, for example, when a bedridden person is lying in a supine position, if a free, non-contact space can be formed for about one minute in each of the necessary parts between the bed surface and the person directly below, such as the buttocks, waist, or shoulders, care such as soft wiping with a steamed towel can be easily performed. In addition, in excretion, if a space of about 5 to 10 minutes can be created between the bed surface and the buttocks or genitals of the bedridden person, excretion care such as putting on and taking off underwear for the lower body, inserting the toilet, changing diapers, washing the genitals, etc. can be easily performed without the risk of soiling the sheets. Furthermore, this free space allows nurses and caregivers to use both hands to assist with care such as bedside excretion, enabling better care to be provided to the care recipient.
Furthermore, if free space is created for the required time in the entire area between the bed surface and directly underneath the patient, it will be possible to transfer the bedridden patient onto a wheelchair by moving the bed from directly underneath the patient and placing the wheelchair directly underneath the patient's buttocks instead.

Many methods have already been proposed for creating a space between the bed and the body of a person in bed for use in nursing and care. Traditionally, nurses and caregivers insert their palms or arms into the lower back. However, the thickness of an adult's palm is about 30 mm, and the width is about 120 mm; if the caregiver's arm is inserted all the way into the space, it will be about 500 mm; the body of the person in bed can be approximated by a rectangular parallelepiped measuring about 30 mm x 120 mm x 500 mm, and the insertion of these protruding objects is invasive.

In Patent Documents 1 and 2, as shown in the diagrams in these documents, the upper body is on the bed, and the lower legs, thighs, buttocks, and waist of the bedridden person are bent upward in an arched manner, raising the buttocks from the bed surface and creating space, and a method is provided for changing the diaper. If the diaper change is carried out smoothly, the sheets will not be soiled, but the nature of excrement changes in various ways depending on the health condition of the bedridden person, such as from liquid to solid, and it is common for the sheets to become soiled due to unexpected leakage or wiping off the excrement that has adhered to the buttocks. A method for dealing with the situation, such as changing the sheets when they become soiled, is also required, but this is not described in Patent Documents 1 and 2. In addition, because the lower legs, thighs, buttocks, and waist of the bedridden person are bent upward in an arched manner, the invasiveness to the bedridden person is great, and it is difficult to apply to bedridden people with disabilities in the lower half of the body from the lower legs to the waist.

In Patent Document 3, an airbag is placed on the back and shoulders of a bedridden person and the airbag is inflated, and in Patent Document 4, a belt of a support member is placed under the waist of the bedridden person and the belt is lifted, and the folded futon and the body of the bedridden person create a space in the buttocks area, which can be used for changing diapers and cleaning the genitals. However, neither document describes how to lay the airbag or the belt of the support member, which is necessary when the patient is already lying on the bed, and it is difficult to lay them down for bedridden people who have difficulty creating a space between their body and the bed, making them difficult to apply. Also, as in Patent Documents 1 and 2, parts of the body, such as the back and waist, are lifted, making it difficult to apply to bedridden people who have disabilities in these areas.
In addition, since this is not a technique for lifting the entire body, it is difficult to change the sheets when they are soiled, even when used for excretion assistance such as changing diapers.

In Patent Document 5, five air bags are placed on a bed, and the position of the air bags is adjusted while the care recipient lies on the bed, and then air is supplied to gently lift the body, creating a space between the bed surface and the body of the care recipient, allowing the waist to be lifted when changing diapers. However, the air bags are placed on the bed and laid on the patient, and since it is difficult to create a space over the entire body with this method, it is difficult to apply this method to sheet changes. In addition, the bedridden person needs to lie on the bed on which the air bags are placed, and there is no description of a method of laying the air bags under the bed on which the bedridden person is already lying, making it difficult to apply this method to bedridden people who are already lying.
In addition, in Patent Document 6, a belt is passed under the patient's body to lift the entire body, making it easy to change the sheets if they become soiled during excretion assistance; however, the belt used to lift the body is attached to parts of the bed that are easy to reach with one's hand, such as the head, lower armpits, upper hips, thighs, and upper ankles. When a patient is lifted up with the belt, stress is concentrated in these parts, and the parts on which the belt is placed rise preferentially upwards, causing uneven deformation in various parts of the body, with a particular risk of the belt digging into soft parts of the body; this is highly invasive to the patient's body and is difficult to apply to bedridden patients with disabilities in these parts.

In Patent Document 7, the hooks of a net placed under a bedridden patient are attached to the wires of a mobile carrier, and the bedridden patient is lifted up by the net to perform sheet changes, bed making, bathing, etc., and although this recognizes the need to lift up a bedridden patient, there is no description of how to tuck the essential net under the bedridden patient.
Furthermore, Patent Document 8 also recognizes a nursing bed that can lift a sick person off the sheets so that they can be changed, and the need to lift a bedridden sick person, but it describes how the net sling can be held in the hand and inserted under the sick person's body like a weaving shuttle, and does not propose reducing the invasiveness of inserting the hand.

Patent Documents 9 to 12 propose techniques for inserting a rod or board between the body of a recumbent person and the bed. Patent Document 9 proposes inserting a rod-shaped object called a lifting platform between the patient's lower back and the futon to lift the patient up, but this causes the part of the body supported by the lifting platform to deform into a convex shape and stress is concentrated in the part supported by the lifting platform, resulting in significant invasiveness due to the deformation of the body and the concentration of stress. Also, although the method is described as being used for changing diapers, because it only lifts part of the body, it is not suitable for changing sheets, which is necessary when the sheets have been soiled with excrement.
Furthermore, in Patent Document 10, a plywood or polypropylene board measuring approximately 60 cm in length and 120 cm in width is used as a core, and the board is inserted and used by turning the patient on his/her side. This involves a rotational movement, and is highly invasive and difficult to use for bedridden patients with disabilities on one side of the back or abdomen of the body.
In Patent Document 11, a plate-shaped part such as a plastic board, for example a Teflon (registered trademark) resin board, equipped with a pulling means such as a plastic board, has a length of 1220 mm, a width of 520 mm, a thickness of 3 mm, and rounded side edges, and is configured to be inserted smoothly, but does not describe how to insert it, and it is described that it can be smoothly pushed in from below the person lying on a bed, etc., and from the figure it is used for transferring between beds arranged side by side by pulling it between them, or between a bed and a stretcher, and since the entire body of the person is slid together with the transfer tool, there is no invasiveness due to deformation or rotation of the body of the person. However, when pulling it, at least a part of the person lying on the bed is always in contact with the person lying on the bed, and it is difficult to use it to create a space directly under the person lying on the bed, which is necessary for changing sheets or wiping. Furthermore, when the person being cared for has an injury to the back or the like, the transfer device covers the entire back of the person being cared for that is in contact with the bed, making it difficult to use the device while avoiding the injured area, which poses the problem that a significant invasion of the person being cared for is difficult to avoid.
In Patent Document 12, the board is inserted diagonally sideways toward the cared-for person, making it difficult to prevent invasion when the cared-for person has injuries on the surface that comes into contact with the bed. Also, because the board is designed to slide, it is thought to be difficult to deal with wrinkles in the sheets when the cared-for person slides to a bed with new sheets.

Patent documents 13 to 15 describe a technique for inserting multiple arms in the same direction between the injured person or patient and the surface on which the injured person or patient lies, and if the arms can be inserted without any problems, the injured person or patient can be lifted from the back, which is considered to be an excellent technique. However, injured people or patients often have cuts, bedsores, and various other diseases on their backs, and if a board is inserted in one direction to match the machine, it will come into contact with these injuries, but there is no description of how to avoid this, and if left as is, the injured person's or patient's condition will worsen.
Also, in Patent Document 13, the material of the arm is metal, plastic, wood, or other suitable material. In Patent Document 14, which has the same inventor as Patent Document 13, the arm is described as flat, elongated, extremely hard and strong material, such as steel, aluminum, or other alloys, which has sufficient strength to support the patient. If the arm inserted between the surface on which the injured person or patient lies and the injured person or patient is arranged horizontally in one layer as in Patent Documents 13 and 14, the material must be hard and strong like a blade in order to support the weight of the injured person or patient, and there is a risk that the arm will get caught or wrapped around the cloth products such as the patient's pajamas, or be cut. Also, when considering distortion due to weight, a soft material will inevitably be thick, and if it is too thick, it will push the patient rather than inserting it, and there is a risk of the patient falling off the bed. The inventions of Patent Documents 13 and 14 have concerns about the invasiveness of insertion and the problem of whether insertion is possible at all, and these documents do not describe how to insert the device between the surface on which the injured person or patient is lying and the injured person or patient, and although half a century has passed since these inventions, we have not yet seen these inventions being used at the bedside. Also, with the technology of Patent Documents 13 and 14, since the arms are passed through a frame, the arms cannot be spread out, and there is a limit to the distribution of stress caused by the weight of the lying person.
Patent Document 15 does not disclose any material for the arms, and unlike Patent Documents 13 and 14, the arms are only supported from one end of a cantilever, which requires the use of a material that is mechanically harder and stronger or thicker in order to suppress distortion and support the body weight compared to Patent Documents 13 and 14. Furthermore, like Patent Documents 13 and 14, there is no disclosure of the insertion method, and therefore no disclosure of a method for treating injuries that inevitably occur when treating injured or patient patients, such as their backs, which come into contact with the bed. As a result, the invasiveness caused by inserting the arms makes it inevitable that the condition will worsen, and this makes it difficult to apply this invention to bedridden people, who are the main target of this invention, and who generally have weak skin defenses and are prone to developing bedsores.
Furthermore, because the technology of Patent Document 15 uses a mechanism that pivots the arms up and down and moves the boards, it is not possible to lay the arms out as in Patent Documents 13 and 14, and there is a limit to the distribution of stress caused by the weight of the recumbent.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to prevent unnecessary bending and rotation of the body of a bedridden person or other such person during treatment, including medical care, nursing, or caregiving, while maintaining the same posture of the bedridden person lying in a stable position on a bed or other bed surface, and when inserting a device to support the weight of the bedridden person, to suppress the invasiveness to less than that which is traditionally given to the bedridden person by a nurse or caregiver inserting their hand or arm between the bed or other bed surface, and to enable the bedridden person or other such person to easily move between the bed and the bed. Even if the part of the body that is in contact has an impairment such as a bedsore, the necessary parts of the person can be covered from the side of the bed surface, avoiding the impaired part and dispersing the stress on the person, and a force that supports the person and is necessary to form a space is applied to the covered part, forming a space directly below the point of contact with the bed surface, i.e., between the person and the bed surface, and these spaces can be used to carry out treatments including medical care or nursing or care while avoiding invasion to the person as much as possible.
We provide a body lift system that solves these problems, and provide methods for applying this device to treatments including medical care, nursing care, and caregiving, such as daily sheet changes, removal of wrinkles from sheets, wiping, assistance with excretion, transfer to a wheelchair, and transportation to the toilet or bathroom, with consideration for the QOL of bedridden people.

The body lift system for achieving the above object is used in treatments including medical care, nursing care, or caregiving, and has an insertion member inserted between a lying person in contact with a lying surface and the lying surface, and its characteristic configuration is that the insertion member includes an insertion support member that is at least partially flexible and has a flat rectangular shape, and the insertion support member has a chamfered end at one or both of the insertion tip corner portion and the insertion tip ridge portion of the insertion tip portion in the insertion direction between the lying person and the lying surface, and includes a load support member that supports the insertion support member in an inserted state between the lying person and the lying surface, and includes a lifting mechanism that separates the insertion support member in the inserted state supported by the load support member, and the lying surface, and operates the lifting mechanism to form a space between the lying person and the lying surface for treatments including medical care, nursing care, or caregiving.

As a result of extensive research, the inventors of the present application have come to the conclusion that it is possible to develop a device that can support the body of a person or animal lying on a bed surface such as the futon or sheets on a bed at home or a hospital bed without unnecessary relative movement of each part of the body, and that is much less invasive due to unevenness than the insertion of the hands and arms of a nurse or caregiver, or the insertion of a belt such as a seat belt in a car, and that can cover the entire area directly below the body of the person as necessary to disperse stress in order to avoid concentration of stress on the body of the person when supporting or lifting the person's weight. It can also be used to cover only a portion of the body directly below the body if necessary, and in addition, for a person with a disability in the lifting area, the device can be used to remove the portion directly below the body from the support or lifting area. By lifting the body or supporting the body and lowering the bed surface such as the comforter or sheets on the bed, the device and method can relatively separate the person from the bed surface, creating a space between the area directly below the person and the bed surface, i.e., a body lift system and a body lift method.

The insertion support member to be inserted between the area directly below the lying person and the bed surface may be one piece or multiple pieces. In order to reduce the invasiveness of the insertion support member when it is inserted between the area directly below the lying person and the bed surface, it is possible to divide it into several pieces of insertion support members and insert them successively so as to be lined up without gaps in the horizontal direction directly below the lying person, so that the entire area directly below the body of the lying person is covered with the inserted insertion support members. In order to line up the insertion support members without gaps, it is preferable that the shape of the divided insertion support member to be inserted is rectangular from the viewpoint of geometric requirements. Furthermore, it is preferable that the insertion support member has flexibility from the viewpoint of operability during insertion.
Also, depending on the health condition of the person, the insertable support member may be inserted only in a portion of the horizontal direction between the person and the bed surface, covering only a portion of the person's body directly below. As the person becomes larger, such as an adult, the insertion may be made easier by using a divided insertable support member.

It is preferable that at least one of the insertion tip corner portion or the insertion tip edge portion of the insertion tip of the multiple roughly rectangular insertion support members that are divided and inserted in the horizontal direction directly below the lying person is chamfered. By chamfering the insertion tip edge portions 12b and 12c shown in Fig. 4(a), the insertion tip edge portions 12b and 12c become the tapered portions 12e and 12f shown in Fig. 4(c). Also, by chamfering the insertion tip corner portion 12a shown in Fig. 4(a), the insertion tip corner portion 12a becomes the chamfered portion 12d shown in Figs. 4(b) and (c).
The insertion tip portions of the insertion support members 11 and 12 have tapered portions 12f, 12e and a chamfered portion 12d, which reduces the resistance during insertion. When laying the insertion support member, it can be inserted directly below the lying person, i.e., between the lying person and the lying surface, and then moved while sliding the insertion support member horizontally and in a direction approximately perpendicular to the insertion direction between the lying person and the lying surface, but the provision of the tapered portion 12f makes the sliding movement easier, which results in easier work of laying the board over the entire area of the lying person.

In order to form a space in the vertical direction between directly below the lying person and the lying surface such as the futon or sheets on the bed in the body lift system of the present invention, an insert support member that has the function of supporting the weight of the lying person and is laid over the entire horizontal area or part of the area is connected to a load support member. As the load support member, a metal fence, wooden fence, concrete fence, or other object that is placed parallel to the outside of the lying person and does not fall over can be suitably used. Specifically, a table of appropriate height, an unused bed, a stretcher, or other platform that approximates a rigid body with a height similar to that of the lying surface can be used. Also, the fence of the bed used by the lying person can be modified to serve as a load support member.

A method in which a load support member is fixedly supported from below by an insert support member or the like having the function of supporting the body weight is stable with less vertical or horizontal swaying or vibration of the person lying down, but in beds that already have a bedside crane, the ends of an insert member such as an insert support member having the function of supporting the body weight can be used as load support members by connecting the crane to the crane at the connecting parts of the crane that connect these ends to the insert support member, and the load can be supported.
In addition, in the case of a person who has fallen down indoors or outdoors, or a person who has been injured in a disaster, the load may be supported by using the connection part with the insertion member for the rescuer's hand or arm as a load support member.

After the insertion support member is inserted, the lifting mechanism separates the insertion support member from the bed surface, creating a space directly below the person. When the medical, nursing or care treatment is completed using this space, the lifting mechanism is moved in the reverse direction to the position it was in before it was lifted and lowered, the insertion support member is brought into contact with the bed surface, such as a futon or sheets, on the lifting mechanism, the load is transferred to the bed surface, the insertion support member is removed and the person is returned to the bed surface.

A further characteristic feature of the body lift system is that the insertion support member has an insertion auxiliary plate that is inserted between the lying person and the lying surface, and a support plate that is guided by the insertion auxiliary plate and inserted below the insertion auxiliary plate between the lying person and the lying surface when the insertion auxiliary plate is in the inserted state, and the width of the insertion auxiliary plate in the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction within the insertion surface is narrower than the width of the support plate in the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction within the insertion surface.

When inserting the support plate between the person directly below the bed and the bed surface, it may get caught in wrinkles in the sheets of the futon or in the person's nightwear, and resistance may be felt when sliding it in. In such a case, it is preferable to first insert an insertion auxiliary plate that is narrower in width in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction than in the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction within the insertion surface of the support plate, and that has low insertion resistance due in part to its narrow width, between the person and the bed surface, and then insert the support plate below the insertion auxiliary plate while being guided by the insertion auxiliary plate.
This allows the support plate to be inserted smoothly without getting caught in wrinkles in the sheets of the futon or in the sleeper's nightwear.

A further characteristic feature of the body lift system is that the insertion support plate is configured to have a low insertion resistance relative to the support plate, and the rigidity of the support plate is configured to be greater than or equal to the rigidity of the insertion support plate, or the thickness of the support plate is configured to be greater than or equal to the thickness of the insertion support plate.

According to the above characteristic configuration, the insertion aid plate can be made less rigid or thinner than the support plate, and as a result, the insertion resistance can be reduced, so that the insertion aid plate can be smoothly slid between the recumbent and the lying surface. Then, using the insertion aid plate as a guide, the support plate can be inserted between the recumbent and the lying surface with reduced resistance.
Furthermore, support for the lying person can be ensured by a support plate that is more rigid or thicker than the insertion aid plate, so that the safety of the lying person can be ensured satisfactorily.
In this way, by providing the insertion aid plate and the support plate separately as insertion support members, the support plate can be smoothly inserted between the lying person and the lying surface, and the highly rigid support plate can properly support the lying person while ensuring safety.

A further characteristic feature of the body lift system is that the insertion member includes a support auxiliary plate disposed below the insertion support member between the lying person and the lying surface when the insertion support member is inserted between the lying person and the lying surface, the rigidity of the support auxiliary plate is configured to be equal to or greater than the rigidity of the support plate, or the thickness of the support auxiliary plate is configured to be equal to or greater than the thickness of the support plate, and the load support member supports the insertion support member via the support auxiliary plate.

As explained above, in cases where it is difficult to support the weight of a lying person with only a configuration including an insertion auxiliary plate and a support plate as insertion members, a support auxiliary plate that assists in supporting the lying person may be inserted directly below the support plate in a direction perpendicular to the bed surface direction, and used to support the load of the lying person's weight, etc. The physical properties required for the support auxiliary plate vary depending on the content of the treatment, including the required medical care, nursing, or care, but when providing the function of supporting weight, materials with high elasticity and rigidity and high breaking strength are preferably hard plastic materials, wood, metal, or thick plates made of these materials.
The support plate and auxiliary support plate, which have the function of supporting body weight, can support the weight of the plate itself and the weight of the person lying on the plate by, for example, having both ends supported by load support members installed near the outside of the person. When the load support members are installed on both sides of the outside of the person, the plate that supports the body weight needs to be long enough to reach the load support members installed on both sides.

As described above, the insertion support plate, support plate, and support support plate, along with the load support member and lifting mechanism, constitute the necessary components of the body lift system of the present invention that forms a space directly below the body. However, during medical, nursing or caregiving procedures, for example, treatment, wiping, excretion, bathing, etc., it becomes necessary to partially or completely remove the underwear of the person lying down. For example, in order to partially create a space directly below the buttocks, it is possible to insert another support support plate of an appropriate thickness between the support support plate and the lying surface, thereby partially lifting the buttocks relatively.

As explained above, the insertion member can be composed of an insertion support plate (one example of an insertion support member), a support plate (one example of an insertion support member), and a support support plate. In the body lift system according to the present application, each of the insertion support plates, support plates, and support support plates may be provided in multiple numbers in the direction of the lying surface. Also, each of the insertion support plates, support plates, and support support plates may be provided in multiple layers in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the lying surface.

In the body lift system, the support plate is preferably flat and rectangular, and one or both of the insertion tip corner portion and the insertion tip ridge portion of the insertion tip are chamfered.

That is, just like the insertion support member described above, by chamfering one or both of the insertion tip corner portion and the insertion tip ridge portion of the insertion tip of the support support plate, the support support plate can be inserted smoothly between the lying person and the lying surface.

A further characteristic feature of the body lift system is that the insertion support members are arranged in a plurality of pieces between the person and the bed surface in a direction along the bed surface, and the plurality of insertion support members are configured to be freely adjustable between a close state in which the insertion support members are close to each other and a spaced state in which the insertion support members are spaced apart in a direction along the bed surface.

As described above, by configuring the multiple insertion support members to be adjustable in a direction along the bed surface between a close state in which the insertion support members are close to each other and a spaced state in which they are far apart, the number of insertion support members can be adjusted to an appropriate number taking into account, for example, the weight of the lying person, thereby improving work efficiency.
Incidentally, a plurality of the insertion support members may be provided side by side between the lien person and the bed surface in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction along the bed surface.
Furthermore, when a treatment including nursing or care is completed, for example, when multiple insertion members have been inserted in a direction perpendicular to the bed surface direction, the lowest insertion member on the side of the bed surface is first removed in the direction of the bed surface, then the layer above the lowest insertion member is removed again in the direction of the bed surface, and finally all of the multiple insertion members are removed in the direction of the bed surface.
When an insertion aid plate is provided, the method of removing the insertion aid plate in the direction of the bed surface after removing the support plate in the direction of the bed surface is the least invasive to the patient. However, any method of removal may be used as long as it is the least invasive to the patient, taking into consideration the health condition of the patient and the ease of treatment, including medical care or nursing, etc. By removing all the insertion members, the patient returns to the original lying position on the bed surface.

To achieve the above object, a body lift system includes:
A body lift system for use in a treatment including medical care, nursing care, or caregiving, the body lift system having an insertion member inserted between a bedside person and a bed surface, the body lift system comprising:
A flexible member is provided that can be interposed between the person and the bed surface,
the flexible member has flexibility to form an insertion space between the plurality of space-forming members and between the lying person and the flexible member when a plurality of elongated space-forming members having a predetermined thickness are inserted between the flexible member and the lying surface at intervals in a direction along the lying surface, while being interposed between the lying person and the lying surface;
The space forming member is provided separately from the bed surface,
The insertion member is a flat rectangular insertion support member having at least a portion of flexibility,
The insertion support member has one or both of an insertion tip corner portion and an insertion tip ridge portion of an insertion tip portion in an insertion direction between the lying person and the lying surface chamfered,
a load support member for supporting the insertion support member in an inserted state into the insertion space,
The device is provided with a lifting mechanism that separates the insertion support member, which is supported by the load support member and in the inserted state, from the bed surface, and by operating the lifting mechanism, a space is formed between the lying person and the bed surface for performing treatments including medical care, nursing, or care.

Furthermore, as a result of extensive research, the inventors of the present application have perfected an apparatus and method, namely a body lift system, which allows the body of a person or animal lying on a bed surface such as the comforter or sheets on a bed at home or a hospital bed to be moved as is, without unnecessary relative movement of each part of the body as much as possible, with significantly less invasiveness due to unevenness, and which can cover the entire area directly below the body of the person as necessary to avoid concentration of stress on the body of the person when supporting or lifting the person's weight, thereby dispersing stress, or can cover only a part directly below the body as necessary, and in addition, for a person with an impairment in the area to be lifted, the part directly below can be removed from the support or lifting area, and which can lift the body or lower the bed surface while supporting the body, thereby relatively separating the person from the bed surface and forming a space between the person and the bed surface.
In particular, according to the above-mentioned characteristic configuration, in a state where a flexible member is interposed between the lying person and the bed surface, a plurality of elongated space forming members having a predetermined thickness (for example, a thickness of 0.5 mm to 50 mm) can be inserted at intervals between the bed surface and the flexible member in a direction along the bed surface to form an insertion space between the plurality of space forming members and between the lying person and the flexible member. An insertion support member made of a relatively rigid hard polyvinyl chloride board or cedar board, or a relatively flexible suitcase belt or seat belt, etc. can be easily inserted into the insertion space thus formed, and the invasiveness to the lying person associated with the insertion can be sufficiently reduced.
Incidentally, when a flexible member is interposed between the person lying down and the bed surface to form an insertion space between the flexible member and the person lying down, the "bed surface" refers to the surface of the interposed flexible member that comes into contact with the flexible member on the opposite side to the person lying down, for example, the top surface of a bed, and does not mean the top surface of a futon or the like as a flexible member placed on the top surface of the bed (in some cases the futon can be the interposed flexible member).
Then, while the insertion support member in the inserted state is supported by the load support member, for example, by raising the load support member using a lifting mechanism, or by lowering a lying surface such as the top surface of a bed using a lifting mechanism, a space can be created between the lying person and the lying surface (and the top surface of a futon, etc.) for treatment including medical care, nursing, or caregiving.

The insert support member as the insert member can suitably be one having the same properties, shape, and material as those described above. In addition, in a body lift system in which an insertion space is formed using a flexible member as in the present invention, since the insert support member is inserted into the insertion space formed by the flexible member, a material with less flexibility can be used in the sense of reducing discomfort of the bedridden person, and a material with more flexibility can be used in the sense of actively forming a space and improving ease of insertion.
As the space forming member, various materials and shapes as the inserting member can be suitably used, and a combination of an insertion auxiliary plate, a support plate, and a support auxiliary plate, or a support plate or a support auxiliary plate alone can be suitably used.
As the soft member, bedding, sheets, blankets, and other soft materials used in medical settings that come into contact with a person lying down can be suitably used.

In order to form a space between the vertical area directly below the lying person and the lying surface of the bed in the body lift system of the present invention, an insert support member that has the function of supporting the weight of the lying person and is spread over the entire horizontal area or part of the horizontal area is connected to a load support member. The load support member can be used in the same form as those described so far. The material of the load support member will be described later.

A method in which a load support member is fixedly supported from below by an insert support member or the like having the function of supporting the body weight is stable with less vertical or horizontal swaying or vibration of the person lying down, but in beds that already have a bedside crane, the ends of an insert member such as an insert support member having the function of supporting the body weight can be used as load support members by connecting the crane to the crane at the connecting parts of the crane that connect these ends to the insert support member, and the load can be supported.
In addition, in the case of a person who has fallen down indoors or outdoors, or a person who has been injured in a disaster, the load may be supported by using the connection part with the insertion member for the rescuer's hand or arm as a load support member.

After the insertion support member is inserted, the lifting mechanism separates the insertion support member from the bed surface, creating a space directly below the lying person. When the medical, nursing or care treatment is completed using this space, the lifting mechanism is moved in the reverse direction to the position before lifting and lowering, the insertion support member is brought into contact with the bed surface (or the flexible member), the load is transferred onto the bed surface (or the flexible member), the insertion support member is removed and the lying person is returned to the bed surface (or the flexible member).

In the body lift system, it is preferable that the load support member has a pair of load support portions that support both ends of the insertion member in the inserted state in the insertion direction.

A further feature of the body lift system is that the insert is preferably made from at least one of plastic, wood, or metal.
In particular, the insertion support plate and support plate that come into direct contact with the patient are preferably made of a plastic material that is flexible, light, and unlikely to cause cuts or prickings even if it comes into contact with the skin. The support support plate that supports the body weight is preferably made of a hard plastic material with a high elasticity and rigidity, or a wood or metal plate that has greater elasticity and rigidity than plastic.

In the body lift system, the insert member is preferably a flat rectangular plate having a thickness of 0.5 mm to 50 mm, a width of 5 mm to 1200 mm, and a length of 200 mm to 3000 mm.
The thickness, width and length of the insertion member can be appropriately changed depending on the weight and height of the person lying down, the area of the lying surface, etc.

A further characteristic feature of the body lift system is that the lying surface includes at least one of the upper surface of a bed, the upper surface of an indoor floor, the upper surface of bedding laid on the bed or the indoor floor, and an outdoor road surface.

Surfaces on which bedridden people lie include not only futons and sheets on a bed, but also futons laid out in Japanese-style rooms, operating tables on which patients who have been administered anesthetics or muscle relaxants have been rendered bedridden for a short period of time, carpets, tatami mats, straw mats in households when a person falls, roads, road surfaces, and the ground on which injured people lie in the event of a disaster, and also X-ray and MRI tables on which pigs and sheep used in medical experiments have been administered anesthetics or muscle relaxants and have been rendered bedridden for a short period of time, and any surface in a living space on which people or animals lie down and are unable to move or are barely able to move, such as these.

In the body lift system, the load-bearing member is preferably made of plastic, wood, metal, concrete, plastering materials used to make interior walls, or composite materials of these.

A further characteristic feature of the body lift system is that the lifting mechanism is composed of a hoist that suspends and supports the connection between the insertion support member and the load support member via a string-like member, and raises and lowers the load support member by winding up or down the string-like member.

The hoist as the lifting mechanism can raise the connecting part between the insertion support member and the load support member in the vertical direction to form a space directly under the body of the lying person. Specifically, the lifting function can be achieved by connecting the connecting part between the insertion support member and the load support member with a string, chain, wire, belt, rope, etc. connected to a crane, and hoisting the string, chain, wire, belt, rope, etc. with the crane.
Furthermore, a configuration may be adopted in which a jack is used as the support portion of the load supporting member and as the lifting mechanism.

A further characteristic feature of the body lift system is that the lifting mechanism is composed of a bed surface lifting mechanism that directly raises and lowers the bed surface.

When the insertion member is placed on a load-bearing member which is approximated by a rigid body having a height similar to that of the lying surface, such as a metal fence, wooden fence, concrete fence, or a non-deformable platform, the lying surface on which the person was lying before the insertion of the insertion member can be directly lowered to create a space below the person's body in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the lying surface.
As the bed surface elevating/lowering mechanism, a known device such as a bed, stretcher, or operating table with a bed surface elevating/lowering function can be used.

A further characteristic feature of the body lift system is that the bed surface lifting mechanism has a partial lifting section that partially raises and lowers a portion of the bed surface.

According to the above characteristic configuration, by adopting a bed surface lifting mechanism having a partial lifting section that partially lifts and lowers a part of the bed surface, for example, when a person is lying on the bed surface, the partial lifting section is lowered below the bed surface and an insertion member is inserted into the space formed, thereby minimizing the discomfort felt by the person when the insertion member is inserted. Furthermore, since the insertion of the insertion support member when the partial lifting section is used reduces the discomfort felt by the person compared to the insertion of the insertion support member when the partial lifting section is not used, a less flexible material can be used as the insertion support member, and since the ease of insertion can be improved by actively forming a space, a more flexible material can also be used as the insertion support member.
To achieve the above object, a body lift system includes:
A body lift system for use in a treatment including medical care, nursing care, or caregiving, the body lift system having an insertion member inserted between a bedside person and a bed surface, the body lift system comprising:
A flexible member is provided that can be interposed between the person and the bed surface,
the flexible member has flexibility to form an insertion space between the plurality of space-forming members and between the lying person and the flexible member when a plurality of elongated space-forming members having a predetermined thickness are inserted between the flexible member and the lying surface at intervals in a direction along the lying surface, while being interposed between the lying person and the lying surface;
The insertion member is a flat rectangular insertion support member having at least a portion of flexibility,
The insertion support member has one or both of an insertion tip corner portion and an insertion tip ridge portion of an insertion tip portion in an insertion direction between the lying person and the lying surface chamfered,
a load support member for supporting the insertion support member in an inserted state into the insertion space,
a lifting mechanism for separating the insertion support member supported by the load support member and in the inserted state from the bed surface, and by operating the lifting mechanism, a space is formed between the bed surface and the person lying down, for performing treatment including medical care, nursing care, or care;
The load support member has a pair of load support portions that support both ends in the insertion direction of the insertion member in the inserted state.
Further, a body lift system for achieving the above object includes:
A body lift system for use in a treatment including medical care, nursing care, or caregiving, the body lift system having an insertion member inserted between a bedside person and a bed surface, the body lift system comprising:
A flexible member is provided that can be interposed between the person and the bed surface,
the flexible member has flexibility to form an insertion space between the plurality of space-forming members and between the lying person and the flexible member when a plurality of elongated space-forming members having a predetermined thickness are inserted between the flexible member and the lying surface at intervals in a direction along the lying surface, while being interposed between the lying person and the lying surface;
The insertion member is a flat rectangular insertion support member having at least a portion of flexibility,
The insertion support member has one or both of an insertion tip corner portion and an insertion tip ridge portion of an insertion tip portion in an insertion direction between the lying person and the lying surface chamfered,
a load support member for supporting the insertion support member in an inserted state into the insertion space,
a lifting mechanism for separating the insertion support member supported by the load support member and in the inserted state from the bed surface, and by operating the lifting mechanism, a space is formed between the bed surface and the person lying down, for performing treatment including medical care, nursing care, or care;
The insertion support member has an insertion auxiliary plate that is inserted into the insertion space, and a support plate that is inserted below the insertion auxiliary plate in the insertion space and guided by the insertion auxiliary plate when the insertion auxiliary plate is in the inserted state.

The body lifting method for achieving the above object is used in treatments including medical, nursing, and caregiving, and lifts a lying person using an insertion member that is inserted between the lying person in contact with a bed surface and the lying surface, and the method is characterized in that the insertion member includes an insertion support member that is at least partially flexible and has a flat rectangular shape, and one or both of the insertion tip corner portion and the insertion tip ridge portion of the insertion tip in the insertion direction between the lying person and the lying surface are inserted. It is preferable that the method includes an insertion step of inserting the insertion support member, both of which have been chamfered, between the lying person and the lying surface, a support step of supporting the insertion support member in the inserted state between the lying person and the lying surface with a load support member, and a space forming step of forming a space for performing treatments, including medical care, nursing, or care, between the lying person and the lying surface by using a lifting mechanism that separates the insertion support member in the inserted state supported by the load support member from the lying surface.

A further characteristic configuration of the body lifting method is a body lifting method in which the following body holder (described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-137799) is used in combination:
The device has a softening temperature or melting point as a hardness /softening change threshold temperature, or a glass transition temperature in the case of a polymeric material that is difficult to crystallize, in the range of 5°C to 48°C inclusive , as a main material whose hardness changes, and can be used when performing treatment, including medical treatment, nursing care, or caregiving, involving support, fixation, grasping, covering, or movement, on the operation target site, which is the whole or a part of the person,
When the main material is heated to a low temperature, the temperature of the part of the main material that comes into contact with the operation target portion is set to 46° C. or lower in the case of a human being , and the temperature of the main material when softening the main material is set to a temperature equal to or higher than the hardness/softening change threshold temperature ,
The main material is in contact with the operation target portion with at least one of a cushioning material, a heat insulating material, and a soft bag-like container interposed therebetween,
When the main material is cooled and hardened, the cooling temperature of the main material is lower than the hardness/softening change threshold temperature,
A body lifting method in which a body holder having the main material is used in combination,
After the space forming process, the body holder is inserted directly under the body of the lying person, the lifting mechanism is used to raise and lower the lying surface to the position before the space forming process, the insertion support member is brought into contact with the body holder inserted on the lying surface, the load is transferred to the body holder and the lying surface supporting the body holder, the insertion support member is then removed, the body holder grasps or covers the part to be operated, and the body holder is shaped according to the shape of the part to be operated.

The body lifting method described above can be expected to produce even greater synergistic effects when used in conjunction with the body holder shown in the characteristic configuration above.

As a body lifting method, in the space forming step, it is preferable to fix or install a medical device to either the load supporting member or the lifting mechanism, and raise or lower the medical device while maintaining the positional relationship between the bedridden person and the medical device in the lifting direction, or, after the space forming step, to perform at least one of the following: removing or putting on the bedridden person's clothes and underwear, inserting a weighing scale used to monitor the bedridden person's health condition, changing the bedridden person's diaper, inserting a bedside toilet bowl into the space, inserting a genital washing instrument into the space, and transferring the bedridden person to a wheelchair.
In this case, examples of medical equipment that can be mentioned preferably include infusion pumps for continuously delivering infusions of medicines, blood, etc. at a preset flow rate, and infusion equipment including infusion bags containing infusions and infusion stands.
Another example is thoracic drainage, in which a tube called a thoracic drain is inserted into the space between the lungs and the chest wall (thoracic cavity) for therapeutic purposes. The drainage equipment consists of a low-pressure continuous suction machine that aspirates air that has leaked from the lungs, secretions such as exudate and pus, or lavage fluid at low pressure (for example, any pressure below 25 cmH2O) for a long period of time, and a drainage pack that stores the aspirated material.
Due to the need for medical treatment, there are bedridden people whose bodies are connected to medical equipment. When providing nursing care to the parts of the bedridden person that come into contact with the bed surface, such as the back, for example for cleaning, it is preferable to raise and lower the medical equipment connected to the body of the bedridden person while maintaining the positional relationship in the raising and lowering direction. Currently, there are stretchers (e.g., AD-6051: <URL: https://www.aandd.co.jp/adhome/pdf/catalog/me/ad6051.pdf>: [searched July 25, 2018]) that integrate an infusion stand with a stretcher surface to move a lying person in a translatory manner, but to form a space between the lying person and the bed surface, a nurse or caregiver must lift or turn the lying person, and it is preferable to detach the infusion route (conduit) and then reattach it after the operation. The body lift system includes a load support member and a lifting mechanism, but the purpose of forming a space between the lying person and the bed surface can be achieved by lifting or lowering at least one of the load support member or the lifting mechanism. Therefore, by fixing or integrally installing the medical equipment on the lifting side of the load support member or lifting mechanism, the positional relationship between the bedridden person and the medical equipment in the lifting direction can be maintained when the bedridden person is lifted or lowered, and the parts of the bedridden person that are in contact with the bed surface can be cared for without impeding the function of medical treatment required.

Incidentally, the space formed over the entire area or partly between the body of the bedridden person and the bed surface such as the futon or sheets on the bed can be used for all treatments that need to be performed on the back of the bedridden person in medical, nursing, or caregiving treatments, that is, all treatments that need to be performed on the surface where the body of the bedridden person is in contact with the bed surface. The things that require a space over the entire area include changing sheets and removing wrinkles from sheets, inserting the body holder shown in the above characteristic configuration, a bed scale required to monitor the health status of a bedridden person (for example, Clear Idea, <URL: http://oguris.name/collabo/?p=165>, [searched July 25, 2018]), changing the position of the bedridden person on the bed, inserting a comfort pillow, and changing the position of the bedridden person in combination with inserting a comfort pillow. Examples of actions that require a space to be formed include changing clothes, transferring to a wheelchair, and transferring to a commercially available toilet wheelchair or bathing wheelchair. Actions that require a space to be formed in one part include partially or completely removing underwear and clothing, wiping the bedridden person's body including the back and buttocks, inserting and changing diapers, assisting with excretion such as inserting and removing a toilet bowl, inserting and removing genital washing implements, and genital washing operations, but these examples do not limit the ways in which the space formed directly under the bedridden person's body can be used.
A space can be formed between the bedside person and the bed surface, such as a bed, over the entire area of contact between the bedside person and the bed surface, for a period of time necessary and sufficient for treatment, including medical care, nursing care or caregiving, and the space can be used to perform treatment, including medical care, nursing care or caregiving, for bedside people, including bedridden people, that is difficult for a nurse or caregiver to perform alone every day, such as changing sheets, removing wrinkles from sheets, inserting the body holder shown in the above characteristic configuration, a bed scale required for monitoring the health status of a bedridden person, changing clothes and underwear, and cleaning the entire body or a necessary part. It enables wiping, inserting and removing the toilet bowl using the space, washing the genitals, changing diapers, transferring to a wheelchair, transferring to a toilet wheelchair, transferring to a bathing wheelchair, and as a result, transferring to a flush toilet and transferring to a bath, improving the QOL of bedridden people, including those who are bedridden, and since the weight of the bedridden person is supported by the inserted insert, nurses and caregivers are relieved from the heavy labor of about 60 kg, preventing back pain for nurses and caregivers and allowing them to use both hands freely, enabling high-quality nursing and care for bedridden people.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the body lift system 100 according to the first embodiment in a use state. FIG. 1 is a side view of the body lift system 100 according to the first embodiment in use; FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a flow of using the body lift system 100 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the shape of the insertion tip of the support plate and the auxiliary support plate; Schematic diagram of the defecation wheelchair and stretcher used in Example 11 FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the thirteenth embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which an object to be operated is covered by a body holder used in conjunction with the body lift system 100. Enlarged view of part of the body holder Partial sectional view of FIG. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of the sixteenth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a flow of using the body lift system 100 according to the second embodiment. Diagram for explaining the body lift method

Hereinafter, a body lift system 100 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
First Embodiment
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the body lift system 100 according to the first embodiment is used in treatments including medical treatment, nursing care, or caregiving, and has insertion members 11, 12, and 13 that are inserted between a lying person K in contact with a lying surface 15a and the lying surface 15a. The insertion members 11, 12, and 13 include insertion support members 11 and 12 that are at least partially flexible and have a flat rectangular shape, and the insertion support members 11 and 12 are inserted in an insertion direction between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a. One or both of the insertion tip corner portion 12d and the insertion tip ridge portions 12e, 12f of the tip are chamfered, and the device is provided with a load support member 14 that supports the insertion support members 11, 12 in an inserted state between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a, and a lifting mechanism 15 that separates the insertion support members 11, 12 supported by the load support member 14 and in an inserted state from the lying surface 15a, and by operating the lifting mechanism 15, a space S (shown in FIG. 2) is formed between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a for performing treatment including medical care, nursing, or care.

Thus, the insertion members 11, 12, and 13 are made of at least one of plastic, wood, and metal to enhance the support functionality and insertion operability.
The detailed shapes of the insertion members 11, 12, and 13 will be described later, but overall they are flat and rectangular with a thickness of 0.5 mm to 50 mm, a width of 5 mm to 1200 mm, and a length of 200 mm to 3000 mm.
The insertion support members 11, 12 include a flexible insertion auxiliary plate 11 that is inserted between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a, and a support plate 12 that is guided by the insertion auxiliary plate 11 and inserted below the insertion auxiliary plate 11 between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a when the insertion auxiliary plate 11 is inserted. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the width of the insertion auxiliary plate 11 in the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction (direction along the arrow X in the figure) within the insertion surface is narrower than the width of the support plate 12 in the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction, and is designed to reduce the insertion resistance between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a.
Furthermore, the insertion auxiliary plate 11 is configured to have a low insertion resistance relative to the support plate 12, and the rigidity of the support plate 12 is configured to be greater than or equal to the rigidity of the insertion auxiliary plate 11, or the thickness of the support plate 12 is configured to be greater than or equal to the thickness of the insertion auxiliary plate 11.

Specifically, since the insertion support plate 11 comes into contact with the bedridden person K or through the bedridden person K's clothing, the material is preferably a plastic material that is flexible, light, and unlikely to cause cuts or thorns even if it comes into contact with the skin. Examples of plastic materials that can be used include the five major general-purpose resins of high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, and polystyrene, the five major general-purpose engineering plastics of polyamide, polycarbonate, polyester (PET, PBT), polyacetal, and modified PPE, as well as polymethyl (meth)acrylate (a so-called acrylic resin) and polytetrafluoroethylene, which has excellent chemical resistance and low friction. In addition, various materials can be used, such as composite materials of these, polymer blend materials, blended plastic materials with inorganic materials, natural fibers, synthetic fibers, nets woven with these fibers, metal fibers, wire mesh, and laminates with different materials such as plastic plates with gratings, FRP, and composite materials.

The insertion aid plate 11, which is inserted as necessary between directly below the lying person K and the lying surface 15a such as a futon or sheet on a bed (an example of a lifting mechanism 15 for a stretcher or the like), is thinner than the palm of a hand that a nurse or caregiver inserts between directly below the lying person K and the lying surface 15a, and its length and width are smaller than those of a hand or arm, and has the characteristic of being minimally invasive when inserted between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a or due to the unevenness of the insertion aid plate 11 when inserted, and its function is to insert while taking advantage of the tiny gaps and areas with low contact pressure between directly below the lying person K and the lying surface 15a, and it is sufficient that the insertion aid plate 11 is long enough to penetrate the body of the lying person K in a direction along the lying surface 15a, for example, in the insertion direction (the direction along arrow X in Figures 1 and 2: from the right side (right hand side) to the left side (left hand side) of the lying person K). Data on the pressure distribution on the bed of a bedridden person K is well known (for example, Non-Patent Document 1: Basic Nursing Techniques, p. 118, Igaku-Shoin, 2011), and the pressure exerted by the bedridden person K on the back of the neck, upper part of the shoulder blades, back, and lower back is small, and for bedridden person K who has no problems with the movement of joints, etc., it is often possible to slightly raise the head, thighs, and lower legs, depending on the health condition of the bedridden person K, and a plate that is thinner and smaller than the hand or arm of a nurse or caregiver can be inserted between directly under these parts and the bed surface 15a of the futon or sheets on the bed with less invasiveness than the hand or arm of a nurse or caregiver. Of course, the appropriate size of the insertion support plate 11 differs depending on whether the subject of medical or nursing care treatment, including infants or adults, but any plate that is smaller than the hand or arm of a nurse or caregiver and has few irregularities can be used as the insertion support plate 11.

The hands and arms of an adult nurse or caregiver are roughly approximated as a rectangular parallelepiped with a thickness of 30 mm, a width of 120 mm, and a length of 500 mm. Therefore, the insertion aid plate 11 can be inserted without any problems as long as it is equal to or less than these dimensions in thickness, width, and length. The insertion aid plate 11 may be a plastic ruler available in commercial stationery, and from the standpoint of ease of handling, it is preferable that the thickness is 0.5 mm to 15 mm, the width is 5 mm to 65 mm, and the length is 200 to 500 mm because it needs to penetrate the body of the lying person in the insertion direction (the direction of arrow X in Figures 1 and 2: from the right side (right hand side) to the left side (left hand side) of the lying person K).

During insertion of the insertion aid plate 11, it is considered that the insertion aid plate 11 advances while sliding over the fabric of the clothes of the bedridden person K and the fabric of the comforter and sheets on the bed, but it is preferable to tape the tip to reduce resistance during insertion, and from the viewpoint of avoiding invasion as much as possible, it is preferable to chamfer the corners of the insertion tip of the insertion aid plate 11. The taper may be any shape, but the insertion tip may be processed with a file or saw into the shape of a right-angled isosceles triangle when viewed from the side. The corners of the insertion tip may also be filed or sawed into C2 or the like.
In order to reduce the insertion resistance of the insertion aid plate 11, the insertion aid plate 11 may be covered with a slip sheet (such as the Multi-Glove sold by Paramount Bed Co., Ltd.) before insertion.

The shape characteristics of the insertion tip are common to the auxiliary insertion plate 11, the support plate 12, and the auxiliary support plate 13 described below, so that the support plate 12 will be specifically described below with reference to Figs.
It is preferable that at least one of the insertion tip corner portion or the insertion tip ridge portion of the insertion tip of the support plate 12 inserted between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a is chamfered. By chamfering the insertion tip ridge portions 12b and 12c shown in Fig. 4(a), the insertion tip ridge portions 12b and 12c become the tapered portions 12e and 12f shown in Fig. 4(c). Also, by chamfering the insertion tip corner portion 12a shown in Fig. 4(a), the insertion tip corner portion 12a becomes the chamfered portion 12d shown in Figs. 4(b) and (c).
The insertion tip of the support plate 12 has tapered portions 12f, 12e and a chamfered portion 12d, which reduces the resistance during insertion. When laying the support plate 12, it can be inserted directly below the lying person K, i.e., between the lying person K and the bed surface 15a, and then moved while sliding the support plate 12 horizontally and in a direction approximately perpendicular to the insertion direction between the lying person K and the bed surface 15a, but the provision of the tapered portion 12f makes the sliding movement easier, and as a result, the task of laying the plate over the entire area of the lying person becomes easier.

The support plate 12 is guided by the insertion aid plate 11 between directly below the insertion aid plate 11 and the lying surface 15a, such as the comforter or sheets on the bed, thereby reducing the invasiveness to the lying person K and making insertion easier. Specifically, the insertion aid plate 11 is slightly pushed up in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction (direction along arrow Z in Figures 1 and 2) when inserted, forming a gap between the insertion aid plate 11 and the lying surface 15a, reducing the contact resistance between the support plate 12 and the lying surface 15a and guiding the insertion of the support plate 12.

The dimensions of the support plate 12 used are greater in thickness, width, or length than the insertion aid plate 11. Similarly to the insertion aid plate 11, the support plate 12 also has a tapered insertion tip and preferably has chamfered corners, and may be covered, similar to the insertion aid plate 11, with a slip sheet used when a nurse or caregiver inserts their hand or arm between the bedridden person and the bed. By using such processing or covering with a slip sheet, insertion becomes easier and the invasiveness to the bedridden person K is reduced. Furthermore, since the position of the bedridden person is more stable if the support plate 12 is not slippery after insertion, the slip sheet may be removed after the support plate 12 is inserted. The function of the support plate 12 is to cover the entire body of the lying person K, or the parts of the body necessary for treatment including medical or nursing care, from the lying surface 15a side of the bed, etc., and when it is difficult to support the weight of the lying person K with the support plate 12 alone, to function as a guide to facilitate the insertion of the support auxiliary plate 13 which is inserted to support the weight, i.e., to have a relationship similar to that between the insertion auxiliary plate 11 and the support plate 12, or when the support plate 12 is intended for a lying person K who can support their weight, such as an infant, both ends of the support plate 12 need to reach the load support member 14 installed on the lying person K or the outside of the lying surface 15a, etc.
The material of the support plate 12, like that of the insertion aid plate 11, can be any of plastic materials, metal, wood, etc., but since the support plate 12 also comes into contact with the lying person K, or with the lying person K through his/her clothing, a plastic material that is flexible, light, and unlikely to cause cuts or pricking even if it comes into contact with the skin is preferable.
Taking into consideration the size of the insertion aid plate 11, the size of the hands and arms of adult nurses and caregivers, and ease of use at the bedside, it is preferable for the dimensions of the plate to be 0.5 mm to 50 mm thick, 5 mm to 1200 mm wide, and 200 mm long enough that both ends can reach the load support member 14, or approximately 3000 mm if spanning a large bed.

When the insertion of the support plate 12 is completed, the insertion auxiliary plate 11 on the support plate 12 may be removed. After the insertion of the support plate 12, the insertion auxiliary plate 11 is removed, and the insertion auxiliary plate 11 is inserted again into a portion of the lying surface 15a of the lying person K and the futon and sheets on the bed where the insertion auxiliary plate 11 can be easily inserted, where the support plate 12 has not been inserted, and then a second support plate 12 is inserted, thereby laying the support plates 12 from the head to the feet of the lying person K, for example, by inserting the support plates 12 from the right side to the left side.
Furthermore, depending on the characteristics of the lying surface 15a such as the futon on the bed and the lying person K, i.e., the hardness/softness characteristics of the bed, the hardness/softness characteristics of the body surface of the lying person, and the health of the lying person, it is possible to omit the insertion of the insertion aid plate 11 and start the operation from the insertion of the support plate 12.

Furthermore, the insertion members 11, 12, 13 include a support auxiliary plate 13 that is disposed below the support plate 12 between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a when the support plate 12 is inserted between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a (including, in some cases, the insertion auxiliary plate 11). The rigidity of the support auxiliary plate 13 is configured to be equal to or greater than the rigidity of the support plate 12, or the thickness of the support auxiliary plate 13 is configured to be equal to or greater than the thickness of the support plate 12.

Specifically, the support auxiliary plate 13 can be easily inserted between directly below the support plate 12 and the lying surface 15a such as the comforter or sheets on the bed, by using the support plate 12 as a guide. The function of the support auxiliary plate 13 is to support the weight of the lying person K by being inserted directly below the support plate 12 which is entirely covered by the support plate 12, or which has a necessary part of the body covered by the support plate 12 as required for treatment, including medical care, nursing, or caregiving.

When the support plate 13 has the function of supporting the weight of the bedridden person K, it is preferable that the material has a large elastic modulus, rigidity modulus, and breaking strength, and is lightweight, taking into consideration its use at the bedside. From the viewpoint of mechanical properties, plastic materials can also be used, but wood or lightweight metals such as aluminum and titanium, which have a large elastic modulus, rigidity modulus, and breaking strength, are preferable.

In addition, with regard to the dimensions of the support auxiliary plate 13, when the desired space S is formed directly beneath the lying person K, a load is applied, and if distortion is large when the support plate 12 alone, or when the support plate 12 and the support auxiliary plate 13 are used together, these plates will deform in a bow shape toward the lower lying surface 15a, and the lying person K will appear to sink slightly onto the plate; therefore, in order to prevent excessive deformation of these plates toward the lying surface 15a, it is preferable to make the plate thickness of the support auxiliary plate 13 as thick as necessary to prevent distortion. It is generally known that the deformation of a beam due to a load is inversely proportional to the cube of the thickness, and the thickness can be calculated from the allowable strain in the direction of the bed surface 15a. As for the dimensions of width and length, since the support plate 12 is already inserted, making the width a little narrower makes insertion easier, but making it wider reduces the number of plates to be inserted. For ease of handling, the width should be a little smaller than the width of the support plate 12 already in use when inserting this support auxiliary plate 13, up to about 1200 mm. As for the length, if weight support is required by the support auxiliary plate 13, it must be long enough to reach the load support member 14 and to allow the load support member 14 to support both ends of the support auxiliary plate 13. When spanning a large bed, a plate with a length of about 3000 mm is preferable.

The support auxiliary plate 13 is also inserted between the area directly below the support plate 12 and the lying surface 15a, such as the comforter or sheets on the bed, and moves forward. Like the insertion auxiliary plate 11 and support plate 12, the insertion tip can be tapered and the corners of the insertion tip can be chamfered to make insertion easier. The insertion tip or the support auxiliary plate 13 itself can also be covered with a slip sheet.

In order to form a space S between the bedridden person K and the bed surface 15a, the insertion support plate 11, the support plate 12, and the support support plate 13 are basically used to achieve this purpose, but depending on the requirements of medical, nursing, or caregiving treatment, a plate (called a fourth plate) that may have the same dimensions as the support support plate 13 or different dimensions can be inserted and used directly below the support support plate 13, that is, between the support support plate 13 and the bed surface 15a. For example, when performing excretion assistance or wiping, it is necessary to remove underwear from the lower body before these cares. After inserting the support support plate 13, if a fourth plate with the same specifications as the support support plate 13 is inserted under the support support plate 13 inserted in the waist and thighs, a space S equivalent to approximately the thickness of the plate can be formed directly below the buttocks, and this space S can be used to remove underwear from the lower body. Not limited to this example, a fourth plate may be used under the support support plate 13, a fifth plate under the fourth plate, ... an nth plate may be used depending on the type of treatment, including medical care, nursing, or caregiving.

Furthermore, a plurality of support plates 12 can be provided between the lying person K and the bed surface 15a in a direction along the lying surface 15a and in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction (the direction along the arrow Y in Figs. 1 and 2). The plurality of support plates 12 are configured to be freely adjustable in the direction along the lying surface 15a between a close state in which the support plates 12 are close to each other and a spaced state in which the support plates 12 are spaced apart from each other.
The relationship between the plurality of support plates 12 is the same as that between the plurality of auxiliary support plates 13 .

The load support member 14 has a pair of load support portions 14a that support both ends of the inserted support plate 12 or auxiliary support plate 13 (including the auxiliary insertion plate 11 in some cases) in the insertion direction (the direction along the arrow X in Figs. 1 and 2). The load support member 14 is made of plastic, wood, metal, concrete, plastering material that constitutes an indoor wall, or a composite material of these materials.
Furthermore, specifically, fences provided on both ends of a stretcher or a bed with a lifting mechanism can also be used. When such fences are used as the load support member 14, the fences as the load support member 14 may be raised and lowered, or the fences (load support member 14) of the stretcher or bed with a lifting mechanism may be fixed, and the floor surface of the stretcher or bed may function as a lifting mechanism independent of the fences.

In the first embodiment, the lifting mechanism 15 is composed of a stretcher or a bed with a lifting function (an example of a bed surface lifting device) that directly lifts and lowers the lying surface 15a.
This makes it possible to appropriately form a space S between the bedridden person K and the bed surface 15a, as shown in Figs. 2(a) and (b), in which treatments including medical care, nursing, or care can be performed.
As a specific example, the lifting mechanism 15 may have a partial lifting section that partially lifts and lowers a portion of the bed surface 15a, as shown in Example 16. The bed surface 15a having a partial lifting section that partially lifts and lowers a portion of the bed surface 15a facilitates the use of less flexible materials (e.g., cedar boards) as the insertion support member (more specifically, the support plate 12). The partial lifting and lowering of a portion of the bed surface 15a by the partial lifting section also includes the function of tilting a portion of the bed surface 15a.

The body lift method using the body lift system 100 described so far includes, for example, a first insertion step ((a) to (e) in FIG. 3 ) of inserting the insertion auxiliary plates 11 and the support plate 12, in which one or both of the insertion tip corner portion and the insertion tip edge portion of the insertion tip portion are chamfered in the insertion direction (direction along the arrow X in FIG. 3 ) between the lying person K and the lying surface 15 a, between the lying person K and the lying surface 15 a; and a second insertion step ((a) to (e) in FIG. 3 ) of inserting the support auxiliary plate 13, in which one or both of the insertion tip corner portion and the insertion tip edge portion of the insertion tip portion are chamfered in the insertion direction (direction along the arrow X in FIG. 3 ) between the lying person K and the lying surface 15 a, between the lying person K and the lying surface 15 a. The method includes a second insertion step (f-g in FIG. 3) of inserting the support plate 13 (the support plate 12 if the second insertion step is not performed) under the support plate 12 which is inserted between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a; a support step (h in FIG. 3) of supporting the support auxiliary plate 13 (the support plate 12 if the second insertion step is not performed) which is inserted between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a with a load support member 14; and a space forming step of forming a space S for performing treatment including medical care, nursing, or care between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a by a lifting mechanism 15 which separates the support auxiliary plate 13 (the support plate 12 if the second insertion step is not performed) which is supported by the load support member 14 and in an inserted state from the lying surface 15a.
In some cases, the second insertion step may be omitted.

In the above-mentioned space forming process, it is preferable to fix or integrally install the medical equipment Pa, Pm, St to either the load support member 14 or the lifting mechanism 15, and to raise and lower the medical equipment Pa, Pm, St while maintaining the positional relationship between the lying down person K and the medical equipment Pa, Pm, St in the lifting direction.
Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, a configuration can be adopted in which stretchers 15 serving as lifting mechanisms are provided on both sides of a bed 70 having a lying surface 15a, and lying surfaces 15b provided on the stretchers 15 are used as load-supporting members 14. In this configuration, the medical equipment Pa, Pm, St is fixed to the lifting/lowering portion of the stretcher 15 (in the example of FIG. 12, the top plate 72 to which the lying surface 15b is fixed and which supports the stretcher mat) with a fixing jig Tg, and the stretcher 15 is raised and lowered, thereby maintaining the positional relationship between the lying person K and the medical equipment Pa, Pm, St in the lifting/lowering direction (the direction of arrow Z in FIG. 12).
Suitable examples of medical equipment include an infusion pump Pm for continuously delivering infusions of medicines, blood, etc. at a preset flow rate, as well as infusion equipment including an infusion bag Pa containing the infusion and an infusion stand St, as shown in FIG. 12.
Other examples of medical equipment include a drainage system consisting of a low-pressure continuous suction device that aspirates air leaked from the lungs, secretions such as exudate and pus, or lavage fluid at low pressure (for example, any pressure below 25 cmH2O) for a long period of time in thoracic drainage, in which a tube called a thoracic drain is inserted into the space between the lungs and the chest wall (thoracic cavity) for therapeutic purposes, and a drainage pack that stores the aspirated material.
When such medical equipment is provided, the medical equipment (infusion pump Pm in the configuration of Figure 12) and the bedridden person K are connected by a tube. However, by adopting the above-mentioned configuration, even in such a configuration, it is possible to maintain a continuous supply of fluid from the medical equipment (infusion pump Pm in the configuration of Figure 12) to the bedridden person K, so that medical care, etc. can be performed on the back of the bedridden person K without impeding the functions of treatments necessary for medical care.

In this body lifting method, after the space forming process, at least one of the following is performed: removing or putting on the clothes and underwear of the bedridden person K, inserting a weighing scale used to monitor the health condition of the bedridden person K, changing the diaper of the bedridden person K, inserting a bedside toilet bowl into the space S, inserting a genital washing instrument into the space S, and transferring the bedridden person K to a wheelchair.
Furthermore, in this body lifting method, after the space forming process, the body holder 200 described later is inserted directly under the body of the lying person K, the lifting mechanism 15 is used to raise and lower the lying surface 15a to the position it was in before the space forming process, the insertion support members 11, 12 are brought into contact with the body holder 200 inserted on the lying surface 15a, the load is transferred to the body holder 200 and the lying surface 15a supporting the body holder 200, and then the insertion support members 11, 12 are removed, the part to be operated is grasped or covered, and the body holder 200 is shaped according to the shape of the part to be operated.
In the above-described body lifting method, the auxiliary support plate 13 may be used together with the insertion support members 11 and 12.

The body holder 200 will now be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9, the body holder 200 of the first embodiment has a softening temperature or melting point as a hardness/softening change threshold temperature in the range of 5°C or higher and 48°C or lower (preferably, 46°C or lower: the same applies below) for a human being as the operation target K, or a glass transition temperature in the case of a difficult-to-crystallize polymeric material, and has a main material 54 whose hardness changes, and is a sheet-shaped body holder 200 that can be used when performing treatments including medical, nursing or caregiving that involve supporting, fixing, grasping, covering or moving the operation target part, which is the whole or a part of a human being .
In the body holder 200, when the part to be operated is grasped or covered and shaped according to the shape of the part to be operated, and the main material 54 is heated and softened, when the main material 54 is heated at a low temperature, in the case of a human being, the temperature of the part that comes into contact with the part to be operated is set to 46°C or less , and the temperature of the main material when softening is set to a temperature equal to or higher than the hardness/softening change threshold temperature.
The main material is in contact with the target area to be operated with at least a cushioning material interposed therebetween, selected from a cushioning material, a heat insulating material, and a soft bag-like container.
Furthermore , when the main material is cooled to harden it, the cooling temperature of the main material is lower than the hardness/softening change threshold temperature .
Incidentally , the upper limit temperature of the portion of the main material 54 that comes into contact with the target portion to be operated during low-temperature heating is preferably set to 46° C. when the target portion is a human.

Furthermore, in the method of using the body holder 200, the main material has a softening temperature or melting point as a hardness /softening change threshold temperature in the range of 5°C to 48°C, or a glass transition temperature in the case of a difficult-to-crystallize polymeric material, and the hardness changes, and can be used when performing treatment including medical care, nursing care, or care involving support, fixation, grasping, covering, or movement on the operation target part which is the whole or a part of the person. When the main material is heated at a low temperature above the hardness/softening change threshold temperature, in the case of a human being as the object, the temperature of the part that comes into contact with the operation target part is set to 46°C or less, the main material is softened by low-temperature heating, the operation target part is grasped or covered and shaped according to the shape of the operation target part, the main material is cooled at a temperature below the hardness/softening change threshold temperature to harden it, treatment including medical care, nursing care, or care is performed, the main material is heated at a low temperature to soften it, and the operation target part is grasped or covered and shaped according to the shape of the operation target part, and the main material is cooled at a temperature below the hardness/softening change threshold temperature to harden it , and a treatment including medical care , nursing care, or care is performed, and the main material is heated at a low temperature to soften it, and removed from the operation target part. This is a method of use that can be freely performed repeatedly.
The main material is in contact with the target area with at least a cushioning material interposed therebetween, selected from a cushioning material, a heat insulating material, and a soft bag-like container.

Specifically, as shown in Figures 8 and 9 , the body holder 200 grasps or covers the operation target portion of the operation target K, which is a human or animal, and is shaped according to the shape of the operation target portion.The body holder 200 is composed of, in order from the side closest to the operation target portion, a cushioning material 51, an insulating material 52, a main material 54 filled inside a soft bag-like container 53, and a heating and cooling device 55.

A specific example of the main material 54 is a wax having a melting point of 48°C or less, such as Paraffin Wax 115F (produced by Nippon Seiro Co., Ltd.). Wax-115) (melting point 48°C: "Paraffin wax", [online], Nippon Seiro, [searched July 22, 2016], Internet <http://www.seiro.co.jp/seihin/guide/guide2a.htm>), low melting point alloys with a melting point of 48°C or less, for example, low melting point alloy U-Alloy 16 (melting point 16°C) manufactured by Osaka Asahi Metal Works, plastic materials with a melting point of 48°C or less or a glass transition temperature of 48°C or less, chewing gum base materials with a glass transition temperature of 48°C or less, for example, vinyl acetate resin (glass transition temperature 28°C, according to Polymer Dictionary, 1st edition, 6th printing, compiled by the Society of Polymer Science, Asakura Shoten, 1980), for example, Sakunol SN09T manufactured by Denki Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd. can be used.

Vinyl acetate resin is synthesized by addition polymerization of vinyl groups, and unlike resins synthesized by condensation polymerization such as polylactone, there is no decrease in the degree of polymerization due to hydrolysis reactions, and after molding into a sheet, there is no decrease in the degree of polymerization due to hydrolysis of the polymer. It is well known that there is a positive correlation between the degree of polymerization and mechanical strength, and in holders that are used for procedures including supporting, fixing, grasping, covering, and moving the whole or part of the operation target part of a human or animal, where external force is applied, the decrease in mechanical strength of the material used over time could lead to accidents such as dropping the operation target during use, so it is better to eliminate the possibility of a decrease in the degree of polymerization at the material selection stage.

The material 54, whose softness, hardness, etc. change at temperatures close to human body temperature when heated or cooled, can be sealed in a soft bag-like container 53 and shaped into a sheet for use, at least when used on humans, in the temperature range of 5°C or higher and 48°C or lower.

The material for the soft bag-like container 53 can be any of a variety of materials or composite materials that can be processed into a bag shape, such as known organic, inorganic, or metallic materials with a thickness of several μm to several cm, which can be folded or otherwise deformed at room temperature, such as plastic films (polyolefin films such as polyethylene film and polypropylene film, polyvinyl chloride film, polyester film, polyamide film, etc.) and laminate films with organic or inorganic materials (polyethylene or polypropylene plastic woven fabric, or laminate films of nonwoven fabric and plastic films such as polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride, or laminate films of inorganic materials such as carbon fiber woven fabric or aluminum foil, or metal materials and plastic films such as polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride). However, these examples do not limit the thickness of the soft bag-like container 53 or the type of material for the bag.

To pour material 54, whose softness or hardness changes at temperatures close to the body temperature of a person or animal, into soft bag-like container 53, an opening (not shown) is provided in bag-like container 53 with a plastic stopper, for example, an OK Tenor S-10L from Okura Industries. Paraffin Wax-115F is solid at room temperature, so it is scraped into flakes with a knife before pouring. Low-melting-point alloy U-Alloy 16 is liquid at room temperature, so it is poured from the opening. Chewing gum base material (vinyl acetate resin SN09T made by Denki Kagaku Kogyo) is granular and fluid, so it is also poured from the opening.

Paraffin Wax-115 or vinyl acetate resin SN09T filled in soft bag-like container 53 can be shaped into a flat plate by immersing it in a hot water bath at about 80°C in advance, melting it, and then cooling it on a flat floor, and the flat plate shape can be used for laboratory studies. After shaping into a flat plate, soft bag-like container 53 can be cut open with a knife to remove flat plate-shaped material 54, and the flat plate-shaped material can be used for laboratory studies.

The cushioning material 51, which reduces invasiveness and floating instability to the area to be operated, is provided at a location that comes into contact with the area to be operated, in a state in which it grasps or covers the area to be operated and is shaped according to the shape of the area to be operated.
The material for the cushioning material 51 may be a known terry cloth (such as cotton, wool, rayon, or a blend of these with synthetic fibers), a plastic foam (such as polyurethane foam, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer foam, or polyethylene foam), or a bubbled plastic film cushioning material. When covering the entire human body or a part of the human body, a hygroscopic material such as cotton, wool, rayon, or a blend of these with synthetic fibers or terry cloth may be used. However, the cushioning material is not limited to these examples.

The cushioning material 51 can be integrated with the body holder 200 by known adhesive methods. Alternatively, depending on the characteristics of the operation target, cushioning material such as terry cloth can be sandwiched between the body holder 200, which is used for supporting, fixing, grasping, covering, or moving the operation target, which is the whole or part of the body of a person or animal, and the operation target, and can be used by interposing cushioning material by physical pressure, or by reinforcing the physical pressure with adhesive tape. Velcro (registered trademark) can also be used if necessary.

The insulating material 52 is provided in a form that suppresses the conduction of warm heat associated with low-temperature heating and cold heat associated with cooling to the operation target area when the insulating material 52 grasps or covers the operation target area and is shaped according to the shape of the operation target area. Specifically, the insulating material 52 is provided between the main material 54 and the operation target area in a state that suppresses the conduction of heat.

The insulating material 52 can be made of known plastic foams (such as expanded polyethylene sheets and expanded polystyrene beads), cotton cloth or toweling (such as cotton, wool, rayon, or blends of these with synthetic fibers), cellulose fiber, glass wool, etc. However, the materials of the insulating material 52 are not limited to these examples.

When the insulating material 52 is in the form of granules, pellets, flakes, powder, etc., it can be enclosed in a soft bag-like container 53 in the same manner as the main material 54 described above. The method of enclosing insulating material 52 in the form of granules, pellets, flakes, powder, etc. in a bag-like container 53 can be performed in the same manner as the method of enclosing the main material 54 described above in a bag-like container.

The heat insulating material 52 can be bonded to the main material 54 or the soft bag-like container 53 that constitutes the body holder 200 by known methods such as adhesion or heat welding, or the heat insulating material 52 can be interposed between the object of operation by physical pressure bonding, or the physical pressure bonding can be reinforced with adhesive tape. The heat insulating material 52 and the cushioning material 51 can also be bonded to each other by known methods such as adhesion, heat welding, or sewing. In addition, the heat insulating material 52 can be interposed between the cushioning material 51 and the main material 54 by physical pressure bonding, or the heat insulating material 52 can be interposed between the cushioning material 51 and the soft bag-like container 53 that contains the main material 54 by physical pressure bonding, and the physical pressure bonding can be reinforced with adhesive tape. Furthermore, Velcro can be used as necessary.

Specifically, except for cases where cushioning material 51 is sandwiched between the body holder 200 used for treatment operations including medical treatment, nursing care, or caregiving and the subject of operation K, and is interposed therebetween by physical pressure, Velcro can be interposed between the cushioning material 51 and the body holder 200 adjacent to the cushioning material 51 as necessary, making the cushioning material 51 and the body holder 200 adjacent to the cushioning material 51 detachable. The Velcro can be bonded to the main material 54, or the Velcro can be bonded to the soft bag-like container 53 by known methods such as adhesion or heat welding. The Velcro can be bonded to the cushioning material 51 by known methods such as adhesion, heat welding, and sewing.

Furthermore, in the combination of the cushioning material 51, the heat insulating material 52, and the soft bag-like container 53, when the cushioning material 51 and the heat insulating material 52 are a bath towel and the soft bag-like container 53 is a bag made of low-density polyethylene, etc., a Velcro tape that can be heat-sealed to polyethylene, for example, a Velcro tape made by Kuraray Fastening Co., Ltd. (width 24 mm, S-E type) has a thermoplastic resin lining on the back of the hook side and the loop side, and can be heat-sealed to the polyethylene bag, and one side of the Velcro tape is attached to the soft bag-like container 53 and the other side is sewn to the bath towel, making it detachable via the Velcro tape, and the cushioning material 51 and the heat insulating material 52, which are in contact with the whole body of a person or animal or a part of the body of a person or animal, can be detached as necessary, washed, and used in a clean state.

A heating/cooling device 55 for low-temperature heating or cooling the main material 54 is provided on the side opposite to the side on which the operation target area is located, in a state in which the operation target area is grasped or covered and shaped according to the shape of the operation target area.
More specifically, the heating and cooling device 55 is composed of at least one of a first heating and cooling section consisting of a Peltier element heat generating heat absorber that utilizes the Peltier effect; a second heating and cooling section consisting of a heat medium that is sealed in a soft bag-like container 53 and absorbs heat from the outside or dissipates heat to the outside; a first heating section consisting of a Joule heat heating body that utilizes heat generated by passing electricity through an electrical resistance; a second heating section consisting of a heating aid, a heat generating agent that generates heat when mixed with the heating aid, and a first bag in which the heating aid and the heat generating agent are enclosed, separated by a breakable partition; and a first cooling section consisting of a cooling aid, a refrigerant that generates cold heat when mixed with the cooling aid, and a second bag in which the cooling aid and the refrigerant are enclosed, separated by a breakable partition.

The heating and cooling device 55 performs at least one of heating and cooling of the main material. For example, when the heating and cooling device 55 includes only the first heating unit and the second heating unit, a configuration for cooling by exposing to outside air can be adopted, and when the heating and cooling device 55 includes only the first cooling unit, a configuration for low-temperature heating by exposing to outside air can be adopted.
A known heating/cooling device can be used as the heating/cooling device 55. For example, a Peltier element heat-generating heat absorber (flat plate 45 mm long x 45 mm wide, with the surface covered with a ceramic flat plate: for heating and cooling), a sheet-shaped heating element that can be rolled up (for heating, for example, a film heater manufactured by Sunrise Kogyo Co., Ltd.), an electric blanket or mat heater (for heating, for example, a mini-mini mat manufactured by Matsushita Electric Works, etc.), a radiation-type heating element that uses infrared rays, room temperature, constant temperature room temperature, outside air, or water, cold water, iced water, or hot water (examples of heat media) can be used.
In addition, water (an example of a heating aid) and a heat generating agent, or cold water, ice water, water, an aqueous gel, or an organic solvent (an example of a cooling aid) and a refrigerant can be sealed in a soft bag-like container and used. In addition, to adjust the hardness of the body holder 200 before or after a treatment operation including medical treatment, nursing care, or caregiving, the indoor air or outside air of a constant temperature room can be used as a heating and cooling device, and the operation can be started from an equilibrium state where the softness or hardness required for the operation is expressed, or the indoor air or outside air of the constant temperature room can be used to adjust the hardness of the body holder 200 for reuse.

In addition, in the above-mentioned heating and cooling device 55, the material used for heating or cooling, whether liquid or in the form of particles, pellets, flakes, powder, etc., can be sealed in a soft bag-like container in the same manner as the method of sealing the main material 54 in the soft bag-like container 53.

Also, a known method can be applied in which a heat generating agent or a cooling agent is enclosed in a bag-shaped soft material together with water, an aqueous gel, or an organic solvent (an example of a heating aid or a cooling aid) through a breakable partition, and when heating or cooling is required, the partition is broken and the device is used as a heating/cooling device 55. Heat generating agents to be combined with water include calcium oxide, or a combination of calcium oxide and aluminum oxide. Cooling agents to be combined with water or ice include table salt, ammonium chloride, calcium chloride, ammonium nitrate, and urea, and low temperatures can also be obtained by combining methanol, ethanol, or acetone with dry ice.

In addition, as a method of controlling the temperature of the surface of the body holder 200 that comes into contact with the object of operation to 5°C or higher and 46°C or lower for humans, and 5°C or higher (animal body temperature + 10°C) or lower for animals, for example, when heating and cooling are performed using electricity such as a Peltier element, a planar heating element, an electric blanket, or a mat heater, the temperature of the surface of the body holder 200 that comes into contact with the object of operation can be measured and a known automatic temperature control system using a thermostat or thyristor can be used. Alternatively, in systems that use liquids such as water, or these liquids together with heat generating agents or cooling agents, the temperature rise and fall of the surface of the body holder 200 that comes into contact with the object of operation can be calculated using a known method from the physicochemical heat generation and endothermic amounts and the specific heat of each material, and an appropriate amount of material can be used to avoid overheating and overcooling and perform heating and cooling.

Second Embodiment
As shown in FIG. 11 , the body lift system 100 according to the second embodiment is used in treatments including medical care, nursing care, or long-term care, and has an insertion member to be inserted between a lying person K and a bed surface 15a. The body lift system 100 includes a flexible member 60 that can be interposed between the lying person K and the bed surface 15a. When the flexible member 60 is interposed between the lying person K and the bed surface 15a, a plurality of elongated space forming members 61 having a predetermined thickness are inserted at intervals in a direction along the bed surface 15a, and the flexible member 60 forms a plurality of spaces. The device has flexibility to form an insertion space Sp between the forming members 61 and between the lying person K, and includes an insertion support member 12 that is a flat rectangular plate having at least a portion of flexibility as an insertion member, a load support member 14 that supports the insertion support member 12 in an inserted state into the insertion space Sp, and a lifting mechanism (not shown) that separates the insertion support member 12 in an inserted state supported by the load support member 14 from the lying surface 15a, and forms a space S between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a for treatment including medical care, nursing, or care by operating the lifting mechanism. In the example shown in FIG. 11, a support auxiliary plate 13 is interposed below the insertion support member 12 to assist in supporting the lying person K.
In addition, in the body lift system 100 of the second embodiment, the insertion support plate 11, support plate 12, support support plate 13, load support member 14, and lifting mechanism of the stretcher, bed, etc. of the first embodiment described so far can adopt the same configuration (including shape and material), and in the following, the same configuration will be given the same symbol, and the detailed configuration may not be described.
The space forming member 61 can be preferably a combination of the above-mentioned insertion auxiliary plate 11, support plate 12 and support auxiliary plate 13 (or the support plate 12 or the support auxiliary plate 13 alone), and the insertion direction of the space forming member 61 is preferably inserted along a direction substantially perpendicular to the height direction (longitudinal direction) of the recumbent K. Incidentally, in the second embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the insertion auxiliary plate 11 acting as the space forming member 61 may be called the space forming insertion auxiliary plate 61a, the support plate 12 acting as the space forming member 61 may be called the space forming support plate 61b, and the support auxiliary plate 13 acting as the space forming member 61 may be called the space forming support auxiliary plate 61c.
Furthermore, bedding such as a mattress can be suitably used as the flexible member 60 .

In the second embodiment of the body lift system 100, as shown in FIG. 11, a flexible member 60 is laid on a lying surface 15a of a bed, stretcher, etc., and a person K lies on the flexible member 60 (as shown in FIG. 11(a)). A space-forming member 61 is inserted at a distance between the lying surface 15a and the flexible member 60, along the lying surface 15a (FIG. 11(b)).
11(c), the flexible member 60 is formed with a portion supported by the space forming member 61 and a portion not supported by the space forming member 61, and an insertion space Sp is formed in the unsupported portion of the space forming member 61 between the bedridden person K and the flexible member 60. To form the insertion space Sp by only inserting the space forming member 61, it is preferable to employ a long space forming member 61 having a predetermined thickness (for example, a thickness of 0.5 mm or more and 50 mm or less).
On the other hand, although not shown, when the inserted space forming member 61 is supported and lifted by the load supporting member 14, the insertion space Sp can be formed satisfactorily even if the space forming member 61 is thin. Incidentally, when the space forming members 61 are made sufficiently thin, the bedridden person K does not feel uncomfortable even when lying on the flexible member 60 such as a mattress. Therefore, by leaving the space forming member 61 below the flexible member 60 after the first lifting and lowering, it is possible to omit the insertion of the space forming member 61 from the second time onwards. The space forming members 61 can be suitably adopted as a fixed shape such as a slatted, ladder-like, or net-like configuration.

Next, as shown in Fig. 11(d), a support plate 12 (an auxiliary insertion plate (not shown) may be inserted) and an auxiliary support plate 13 as insertion support members are inserted into the formed insertion space Sp. After the insertion, the space forming member 61 can be removed at any time (Fig. 11(e)).
Then, as shown in Figure 11 (f), with the support plate 12 and the auxiliary support plate 13 supported by the load support member 14, the load support member 14 is lifted by a lifting mechanism not shown, thereby forming a space S between the lying person K and the bed surface 15a for performing treatment including medical care, nursing, or care.
At this time, the space S may be formed by lowering the lying surface 15a as the upper surface of the stretcher while maintaining the state in which the support plate 12 and the auxiliary support plate 13 are supported by the load support member 14.
Although not shown, the subsequent steps may be carried out between FIGS. 11(e) and 11(f) with the flexible member 60 still in place.

Next, in the embodiments, various examples of treatments including the formation of the insertion space Sp by inserting the space forming member 61 below the flexible member 60 of the body lift system 100, the insertion of the insertion members 11, 12, and 13, support of the load by the load support member 14, formation of the space S between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a by the lifting mechanism, and medical, nursing, or caregiving will be described.
In the following examples, a newborn doll (an example of a bedridden person K) was used as a "Kyoto Kagakusha, bathing doll, Shintaro, model number 11278-000, height 53 cm, weight 2.7 kg," and an adult doll (an example of a bedridden person K) was used as a "Kiyoko, manufactured by Sakamoto Model Co., Ltd., height 160 cm, weight approximately 13 kg."
Furthermore, Examples 1 to 16 correspond to the first embodiment, and Examples 17 to 20 correspond to the second embodiment.
Example 1

A commercially available futon (100 cm x 200 cm, approximately 5 cm thick, approximately 3 cm when compressed) with a surface sheet partially sewn with thread was placed on a commercially available stretcher (Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., Nursing Stretcher, NST-1), and a commercially available newborn doll was placed on the flat part of the sheet on the futon (the part without stitching, etc.) and an experiment was performed. The newborn doll was dressed in a gown-like nightgown (so-called long underwear) made of cotton, and a care supporter was placed over the head to simulate covering the hair (although since it was a doll, it had a shaved head and no actual hair), and the insertion support plate 11 was inserted.
Two types of commercially available plastic rulers and one type of stainless steel ruler were used for the insertion aid plate 11. The dimensional characteristics of these rulers are shown in Table 1.

(1) The newborn doll was dressed in nightgowns with no slack, with no visible wrinkles on its back, and its hands were intertwined like clasped hands. The doll was then placed in a supine position on the flat surface of a sheet on a futon.
(2) When a plastic ruler TCC0-102 was inserted from left side (the side of the doll's left hand) to right side under the waist of the newborn doll, approximately 29 cm from the top of the head on the median surface of the newborn doll, parallel to the lying surface 15a (the cross section of this ruler is trapezoidal, but the long side of the trapezoid faces the newborn doll and the short side faces the futon, and also upside down), it penetrated the back of the newborn doll without resistance.
(3) The plastic ruler TCC0-102 from (2) above was pulled out, and a plastic ruler marked with JIS NO 569047YK was inserted, in the same manner as in (2), under the waist of the newborn doll about 29 cm from the top of the head from the left side (the left hand side of the doll) to the right side horizontally with respect to the lying surface 15a. The ruler penetrated the back of the newborn doll without resistance.
(4) As in (2) and (3) above, a stainless steel ruler was inserted from left to right, with the arc-shaped tip at the bottom of the newborn doll's waist about 29 cm from the top of the head, horizontally to the lying surface 15a, and penetrated the back of the newborn doll without resistance. This experiment confirmed that a stationery ruler about 30 cm long and 1 to 2 mm thick could be inserted without resistance between the newborn doll wearing cotton nightgown and the flat lying surface 15a of the sheet on the bed.
Example 2

As in Example 1, a commercially available futon (100 cm x 200 cm, approximately 5 cm thick, approximately 3 cm when compressed) with a surface sheet partially sewn with thread was placed on a commercially available stretcher (Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., Nursing Stretcher, NST-1), and a commercially available newborn doll was placed on the flat part of the sheet on the futon (part without stitching) to conduct an experiment. The newborn doll was dressed in a gown-like nightgown made of cotton, and a care supporter was placed over the head to simulate covering the hair (although since it was a doll, the head was shaved and there was no hair in reality), and the insertion aid plate 11 was inserted, and the support plate 12 was inserted directly below the insertion aid plate 11.
A commercially available wire mesh hard polyvinyl chloride plate (SAKK608 manufactured by Takiron Co., Ltd.) was used as the support plate 12. The commercially available hard polyvinyl chloride plate was flat, and was processed using a saw, knife, and file to have the approximate dimensions shown in Table 2.

Because this material is a rigid polyvinyl chloride plate containing wire mesh, when it is cut with a saw or the like, wire may appear at the end surface; however, the wire can be cut off with pliers or the like, and the protruding surface of the wire can be smoothed with a file. It was confirmed that the material slid smoothly even when rubbed with bare hands, and was then used in the subsequent experiment to insert the support plate 12.
(1) The newborn doll was dressed in cotton nightgowns that fit snugly so that no wrinkles were visible on the back of the doll, and its hands were intertwined like clasped hands.The doll was then placed in a supine position on the flat surface of a sheet on top of a futon.
(2) When the plastic ruler TCC0-102 was inserted from left to right into the waist area of the newborn doll, approximately 32 cm from the top of the head on the median surface of the newborn doll, parallel to the lying surface 15a, it penetrated the back of the newborn doll without resistance, as in Example 1.
(3) Next, the support plate 12 (with tapered insertion tip and both sides, and chamfered left and right corners of the insertion tip) was inserted approximately horizontally directly below the insertion auxiliary plate 11, between the insertion auxiliary plate 11 and the flat lying surface 15a of the sheet on the bed, and it penetrated under the insertion auxiliary plate 11 without resistance, and the insertion auxiliary plate 11 was inserted so that it was on top of the support plate 12 and the newborn doll was placed on the insertion auxiliary plate 11. This experiment confirmed that the insertion auxiliary plate 11, which was 1.5 mm thick, 33 mm wide, and about 30 cm long, could be inserted first under the waist of the newborn doll, and then the support plate 12, which was 3 mm thick, 10 cm wide, and 90 cm long, could be inserted under the insertion auxiliary plate 11.
Example 3

Following the results of Example 2, the experiment was started with the insertion aid plate 11, 1.5 mm thick, 33 mm wide, and 30 cm long, inserted under the waist of the newborn doll, about 32 cm from the top of the head on the median face, and the support plate 12, 3 mm thick, 10 cm wide, and 90 cm long, inserted under the insertion aid plate 11. The support plate 12 was 10 cm wide, so it was inserted from the waist to the thighs of the doll.
(1) First, the insertion support plate 11 located directly below the waist of the doll was pulled out from the waist.
The insertion aid plate 11 was pulled out without resistance.
(2) Next, the insertion aid plate 11 and the plastic ruler TCC0-102 were inserted horizontally to the lying surface 15a under the shoulders of the newborn doll, about 15 cm from the top of the head on the median surface of the doll, from the left side (left hand side) to the right side of the doll, in the same manner as in Examples 1 and 2. The insertion aid plate 11 penetrated the back of the newborn doll without resistance, in the same manner as in Examples 1 and 2.
(3) After that, the second support plate 12 (same specifications as those used in Example 2) was inserted horizontally from the left side (left hand side) to the right side of the doll directly below the insertion auxiliary plate 11 inserted under the shoulder. The second support plate 12 was inserted while sliding slightly toward the doll's feet, and when it was inserted, the center line of the longitudinal direction of the insertion auxiliary plate 11 was approximately at the position where it was first inserted, but the center line of the longitudinal direction of the second support plate 12 was shifted from the center line of the longitudinal direction of the insertion auxiliary plate 11 toward the doll's feet by about 2.5 cm, but this support plate 12 was inserted in such a way that it placed the entire area of the insertion auxiliary plate 11 on it. After that, the insertion auxiliary plate 11 was removed. The insertion auxiliary plate 11 was removed without resistance.
(4) A distance of approximately 4.5 cm was created between the edge of the first support plate 12 inserted between the flat surface of the sheet on the bed and the waist of the lying doll, and the edge of the second support plate 12 inserted between the flat surface of the sheet and the shoulders of the lying doll. The second support plate 12 was then slid under the back of the doll, i.e., between the lying doll and the flat surface of the sheet on the futon, toward the support plate 12 previously inserted under the waist, and the two support plates 12 were laid out from the thighs to the shoulders.
The sliding movement of the support plate 12 between the lying doll and the flat surface of the sheet on the bed could be performed without resistance, and as a result, the support plate 12, which is 20 cm wide and 90 cm long, could be laid out on the back of the newborn doll, i.e., between the lying doll and the flat surface of the sheet on the futon.
(5) After that, the insertion aid plate 11 and the plastic ruler TCC0-102 were inserted again from the left side (left hand side) to the right side of the doll directly under the neck about 10 cm from the top of the head on the median surface of the doll. Since the neck is supported by the head and shoulders and is raised above the surface of the bed sheet, the insertion aid plate 11 penetrated the gap under the neck without any problem. When inserting the third support plate 12 (same specifications as used in Example 2), since the insertion aid plate 11 was not held down by the lying doll, the experimenter held down the end of the insertion aid plate 11 sticking out on the left side of the doll with one hand while holding the third support plate 12 with the other hand, and inserted the support plate 12 under the insertion aid plate 11 from the left side (left hand side of the doll) to the right side. Under the neck, where there was a large gap between the lying doll and the bed sheet, the support plate 12 could be inserted under the insertion aid plate 11 without resistance.
(6) After the third support plate 12 was inserted under the neck of the newborn doll, the insertion aid plate 11 was removed. The insertion aid plate 11 was removed without resistance. As in (4) above, there was a gap between the ends of the two support plates 12 that were inserted earlier and were laying from the thighs to the shoulders, and the end of the third support plate 12 that was now inserted under the neck. In order to fill this gap, the third support plate 12 inserted under the neck was slid horizontally between the lying doll and the sheet on the bed in the direction of the doll's feet, in the same way as the second support plate 12. As a result, the support plate 12, which was 30 cm wide and 90 cm long, was able to be laid out between the back of the newborn doll, roughly from the upper cervical vertebrae to the thighs, and the flat surface of the sheet on the futon.
(7) With regard to the placement of the support plate 12 directly under the head, since the neck is bent, the insertion of the auxiliary insertion plate 11 was omitted, the head was lifted slightly, and the fourth support plate 12 (same specifications as used in Example 2) was inserted from the left side (left hand side) to the right side, and the horizontal sliding movement was also performed to connect the head support plate 12 to the support plate 12 that had been placed from the thighs to the upper cervical vertebrae. As a result, the support plate 12, 40 cm wide and 90 cm long, was able to be placed between the back of the newborn doll roughly from the head to the thighs and the flat surface of the sheet on the futon.
(8) Regarding the placement of the support plate 12 directly under the thighs, just like the neck area, there was a large gap between the thighs and the sheet surface on the bed, so without the insertion aid plate 11, the fifth support plate 12 was inserted without any problem by pressing the tip of the plate against the bed. After that, the support plate 12 was connected to the support plate 12 placed directly under the thighs by adjusting the horizontal sliding movement of the support plate 12. As a result, the support plate 12, 50 cm wide and 90 cm long, was placed between the back of the newborn doll roughly from the head to the knees and the flat surface of the sheet on the futon.
(9) As for the placement of the support plates 12 in the heel area, since the hip joints of the newborn doll are bent, the insertion of the insertion aid plate 11 was omitted, the tarsus area was lifted slightly, and the sixth support plate 12 was inserted from the left side (left hand side) to the right side, and the horizontal sliding movement was also performed, and the support plate 12 in the heel area was connected to the support plate 12 that had been placed from the head to the knee area. As a result, the support plate 12, 61 cm wide and 90 cm long, was able to be placed between the back of the newborn doll from the head to the heel area and the flat surface of the sheet on the futon.
With this Example 3, it was confirmed that it is possible to use the insertion aid plate 11 as necessary, and to slightly lift bending parts such as the neck, thighs, and knees, and to lay a 3 mm thick plastic plate directly under a 53 cm tall doll.
It was also confirmed that, depending on the presence or absence of a bent portion of the lying person K (a lying doll in this embodiment 3) and the characteristics of the lying surface 15a such as the lying person K and the sheets on the bed, it may be possible to start insertion from the support plate 12 without the insertion support plate 11.
Example 4

As in Examples 1 to 3, a commercially available futon (100 cm x 200 cm, approximately 5 cm thick, approximately 3 cm when compressed) with a commercially available sheet partially sewn with thread was placed on a commercially available stretcher (Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., Nursing Stretcher, NST-1), and a commercially available newborn doll was placed in a supine position on the flat part of the sheet on the futon (the part without stitching, etc.) to conduct an experiment. The newborn doll was dressed in a cotton nightgown so that no wrinkles were visible on the doll's back, the hands were intertwined with the fingers of a human being, and a care supporter was placed over the head to simulate covering the hair (although since it was a doll, it had a shaved head and no actual hair), and various types of materials approximated by a thin rectangular parallelepiped as shown in [Table 3] were inserted from the chest to the waist of the newborn doll.
The plates used were stainless steel plate (Kyuho Metal Co., Ltd.), aluminum plate (Kyuho Metal Co., Ltd.), polycarbonate plate (Takiron Co., Ltd., PC1600), polyvinyl chloride plate ( Takiron Rigid PVC (Takiron Co., Ltd., TS608 and SAKK608), modified polyethylene terephthalate plate (Acrylic Sunday Co., Ltd., PG-1 transparent), and methacrylic resin plate (Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd., Acrylite (registered trademark)). The dimensions of each plate, whether or not it was tapered or chamfered, and the results of the insertion experiment are shown in Table 3.
A plate was inserted horizontally or while pushing the top sheet of the futon between a newborn doll dressed in cotton nightwear and a bed surface 15a consisting of the futon sheet. Those that penetrated were marked with ◯ in [Table 3], and those that were caught on the newborn doll's nightwear or stopped during insertion were marked with × in [Table 3]. In this Example 4, metal plates were inserted without processing (tapering the insertion tip or chamfering the tip corners), and plastic plates were inserted after processing. For those that could not be inserted as they were, an insertion aid plate 11 (the commercially available ruler (TCC 0-102) of Example 1) was used, and an experimental plate shown in [Table 3] was inserted between the insertion aid plate 11 and the bed surface 15a of the futon sheet. For plates that could not be penetrated even with the insertion aid plate 11 because the corners of the protruding parts were caught on the newborn's nightwear or bedding sheets, the corners were made to pass under the insertion aid plate 11. We tried to penetrate each plate using three insertion modes, including with and without processing the insertion tip, with and without the insertion aid plate 11, and inserting in the width direction of the plate or with the corners made to the front. In addition, for the penetrated metal plates and some plastic plates, we also experimented with whether the plates could slide from the head to the feet of the newborn doll in the direction along the lying surface 15a and perpendicular to the insertion direction, and the data are summarized in Table 3.

In addition, the material 7 has tapers on both sides of the insertion tip in the longitudinal direction, and both corners of the insertion tip are chamfered. In the case of the material 8, a commercially available ruler (TCC 0-102) has tapers on both sides of the longitudinal direction at about 45 degrees, while the material of the embodiment 1 (a commercially available ruler (JIS NO 569047YK)) has tapers on both sides of the longitudinal direction at about 45 degrees in opposite directions, and the material of the embodiment 1 (a commercially available stainless steel ruler) has an arc with a radius of about 30 mm on one side of the insertion tip.
In addition, in the above *1), both sides in the longitudinal direction and the tip in the width direction are tapered. As in the diagram of the insertion tip ridge in [Table 2], an isosceles triangular taper with the thickness as the base is added.
In the above *2), as in *1), an isosceles triangular taper with the thickness as the base was added to both longitudinal sides and the widthwise tip, and the corner part of the widthwise tip was cut 2 mm from the corner, as in the diagram of the insertion tip corner part in [Table 2].
In the above *3), similar to the diagram of the insertion tip ridge line portion in [Table 2], the width direction tip is tapered in the shape of an isosceles triangle with the thickness as the base, and similar to the diagram of the insertion tip corner portion in [Table 2], the corner portion of the width direction tip is cut 2 mm from the corner angle.

From the results of this Example 4, it was confirmed that metal and plastic plates, although depending on the condition of the bed surface 15a, cannot be inserted unconditionally, but by appropriately selecting the material, when there is no processing such as taper and chamfering of the corners, a plate with a thickness of 0.3 mm to 2 mm can be inserted, and when there is no processing such as taper and chamfering of the corners but an insertion aid plate 11 is used and/or when the plate is inserted under the insertion aid plate 11 from the tip corner, a thicker plate with a thickness of 0.5 to 3 mm can be inserted, and when there is a taper and chamfering of the corners, an even thicker plate of 1.5 mm or more can be inserted, and they can be used as the insertion aid plate 11 or the support plate 12.
Example 5

A lift-up experiment was carried out on the same newborn doll as used in Examples 1 to 4, a hard polyvinyl chloride support plate 12 (SAKK608 manufactured by Takiron Co., Ltd., thickness 3 mm, width 100 mm, length 900 mm, tapered at the insertion tip and both sides, chamfered at the left and right corners of the insertion tip), and a commercially available bed (Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd., home electric nursing bed RS, size 1975 mm x 998 mm) placed on a commercially available mattress (approximately 194 cm x approximately 96 cm).
(1) A commercially available futon (100 cm x 200 cm, approximately 5 cm thick, approximately 3 cm when compressed) with a surface sheet partially sewn with thread was placed on top of a bed mattress, and a newborn doll was placed on the flat part of the sheet on the futon (the part without stitching, etc.). The newborn doll was dressed in cotton nightwear with no slack, with no wrinkles on the back of the doll, a care supporter was placed over the head to simulate hair coverage (although the doll had a shaved head and no hair in reality), and the fingers of the hands were intertwined in the shape of a human's hands clasped together, and the doll was placed in a supine position on the flat surface of the sheet on the futon.
(2) In this Example 5, the insertion of the insertion aid plate 11 was omitted, and the tip of the support plate 12 was pressed against the futon on the bed so that the center line of the length of the support plate 12 was aligned with the waist of the newborn doll about 30 cm from the top of the head on the median surface of the doll. The insertion could be performed without any significant resistance.
(3) Similarly, the second support plate 12 was inserted into the newborn doll at a position about 44 cm below the knee from the top of the head on the median face of the newborn doll so that the center line of the longitudinal direction of the support plate 12 was aligned. This insertion could also be performed without any significant resistance.
(4) Next, the third support plate 12 was inserted under the neck where there was a gap between the doll's body and the lying surface 15a of the bed sheet, starting from the corner of the insertion tip while slightly pushing the futon on the bed with the insertion tip, and then the support plate 12 was slid toward the doll's head at a right angle to the length direction of the support plate 12. The doll's hair was covered with a care supporter, so there was a slight step with the back of the doll's head, and it was thought that this part was caught when the plate slid and moved, so the movement of the support plate 12 was stopped once. The doll's head was lifted a little, and the support plate 12 was moved to the back of the doll's head without any problems. The position of the third plate was about 9 cm from the top of the head of the doll on the median plane. The approximate distance from the top of the head to the position where the median plane of the doll and the center line of the longitudinal direction of the support plate 12 intersect is shown in [Table 4].

(5) After inserting the support plates 12 in (2) to (4), the newborn doll was placed in the approximate center of the three support plates 12, including fine adjustments, and two plates with the same specifications as the support plates 12 were inserted as part of the load support member 14, one on the left and one on the right, in a direction approximately parallel to the axis of the lying doll's head to feet, directly below the left and right ends of these three support plates 12, with the longitudinal direction of these plates approximately parallel to the axial direction of the doll's head to feet. One participant stood on each side of the bed, supporting the plastic auxiliary support plates 13 inserted directly below the ends of the support plates 12 with their hands and arms, while another participant (a total of three participants) lowered the floor of the bed on which the newborn doll was originally placed, which was used as a bed lifting mechanism, and a space S was formed between the newborn doll and the lying surface 15a of the sheet on the bed futon. The distance between the newborn doll and the lying surface 15a was about 2 cm.
(6) Using this space S, a sheet used for changing positions, etc. (in this experiment, a body holder described in Patent Application No. 2016-137799; this product is approximately 50 cm x 50 cm x 2 cm in size; it is made of a sheet (made of paraffin wax 115F (Paraffin Wax-115)) that changes hardness and softness when heated, wrapped in a cushioning and insulating bath towel/polyethylene bag, and a film heater for heating the sheet) was placed under the lying doll from the lying doll's side.
(7) After that, the electric bed was raised while adjusting its lifting mechanism. When the support plates 12 came into contact with the cushioning and insulating material of the bath towel on the surface of the sheet (the body holder in this experiment) used for changing positions, etc., the rise was stopped. After confirming that the three support plates 12 on which the newborn doll was resting were supported on the body holder, and that the holder was supported on the bed floor, the three support plates 12 were removed in order from the foot side.
(8) It took about 40 seconds from the start of inserting the support plates 12 to the completion of insertion of the three support plates 12, about 17 seconds to complete preparation for assembling the load support members 14, about 8 seconds to lower the bed surface 15a with the lifting mechanism and insert the instruments used in medical, nursing, or caregiving procedures (in this Example 5, a body holder used for changing positions, etc.), about 17 seconds to raise the lifting mechanism, and about 17 seconds to remove the support plates 12, for a total of about 1 minute and 40 seconds to complete all the work. These work times are summarized in [Table 5].

In this Example 5, depending on the need for treatment including medical, nursing or caregiving, a plastic support plate 12 is inserted between the newborn doll and the sheets on the bed without laying the whole surface, and a space S is formed between the newborn doll and the sheets on the bed by the body lift system 100 consisting of the plastic support plate 12, a load support member 14 consisting of a human arm, and an electric bed lifting mechanism 15, and it has been confirmed that instruments used for treatment including medical, nursing or caregiving can be easily inserted into this space S.
Example 6

As in Example 2, the experiment was conducted using a commercially available plastic ruler TCC0-102 as the insertion aid plate 11 and three hard polyvinyl chloride plates (SAKK608 manufactured by Takiron Co., Ltd., thickness 3 mm, width 100 mm, length 900 mm, the insertion tip and both sides are tapered, and the left and right corners of the insertion tip are chamfered) as the support plates 12.
(1) The kp PARAMOUNT BED manufactured by Kimura Sleeping Platform Co., Ltd. used as a stretcher has a metal floor, and a newborn doll was placed on this floor. The newborn doll was dressed in cotton nightwear, with no wrinkles visible on the back of the doll, and a care supporter was placed over the head to simulate hair coverage (although the doll had a shaved head and no actual hair), and the hands were intertwined with the fingers of a person clasped together, and the doll was placed in a supine position.
(2) Using a commercially available plastic ruler TCC0-102 as the insertion aid 11, an attempt was made to insert the ruler into the waist with the short side of the trapezoidal cross section facing the newborn doll and the long side facing the metal surface, but there was resistance to insertion, possibly due to the hard floor surface, so the insertion aid 11 was temporarily removed. The insertion position of the insertion aid 11 was changed, and the ruler was again inserted from the space that was naturally formed just below the neck with the short side of the trapezoidal cross section facing the newborn doll and the long side facing the metal surface, penetrating through, and then the insertion aid 11 was translated in parallel from the head to the foot axis, perpendicular to the insertion direction, toward the legs, where it slid between the newborn doll's nightgown and the metal floor surface, forming a penetrating shape in the waist.
(3) The support plate 12 was inserted directly below the insertion aid plate 11 for the lower back while lifting the end of the insertion aid plate 11. The support plate 12 could be inserted under the insertion aid plate 11 without significant resistance. The insertion aid plate 11 was then removed. The removal was carried out without any problems.
(4) As in (3), first insert the insertion aid plate 11 under the neck, followed by the second support plate 12. Similarly, insert the insertion aid plate 11 and the third support plate 12 from the thigh to the knee. Then, slide the support plate 12 horizontally and perpendicularly for fine adjustment, forming a plate arrangement approximately similar to that used to support the weight of the newborn in Example 5.
(5) As in (1) to (4), the experiment was carried out assuming a disaster, with the floor of the laboratory being the lying surface 15a. The floor of the laboratory was made of polyvinyl chloride tiles.
(6) A commercially available plastic ruler TCC0-102 was used as the insertion aid 11, and an attempt was made to insert the ruler into the lower back with the short side of the trapezoid cross section facing the newborn doll and the long side facing the polyvinyl chloride tile. However, the floor surface was hard and the insertion resistance was large directly below the lower back, so the ruler was inserted again from the space that was naturally formed below the neck in the same manner as in (2), with the short side of the trapezoid cross section of the ruler facing the newborn doll and the long side facing the polyvinyl chloride tile, and penetrated. Then, by moving parallel to the leg direction perpendicular to the insertion direction, the ruler slid between the newborn doll's nightgown and the floor surface of the laboratory, and a shape was formed in which the ruler penetrated the lower back. The support plate 12 was inserted directly below the insertion aid 11 of the lower back while lifting the end of the insertion aid 11. The support plate 12 could be inserted under the insertion aid 11 without much resistance. The insertion aid 11 was then removed. Removal was carried out without any problems.
(7) As in (4), the insertion aid plate 11 was repeatedly used to insert a second and third support plate 12 to form a plate arrangement similar to that used in Example 4 to support the weight of a newborn baby.
(8) In addition, assuming an outdoor disaster, the ground of the forest outside the laboratory, a relatively flat exposed surface with exposed soil and stones, was used as the model lying surface 15a. Since it was difficult to insert the insertion support plate 11 made of a ruler from the waist even on the ground outdoors, the ruler was first inserted from the space under the neck with the short side of the trapezoidal cross section facing the newborn doll and the long side facing the ground, and then it was moved parallel to the feet and inserted into the waist.
(9) The support plate 12 was inserted under the lower back insertion aid plate 11 while lifting the end of the insertion aid plate 11. Although there was some resistance between the support plate 12 and the ground, it could be inserted under the insertion aid plate 11 without any problems.
(10) The insertion auxiliary plate 11 was removed from the waist, and the removed insertion auxiliary plate 11 was used and inserted under the neck in the same manner as in (9), and the second support plate 12 was inserted under it, and the insertion auxiliary plate 11 was also removed from the neck, and the removed insertion auxiliary plate 11 was inserted from the thigh to the knee, and the third support plate 12 was inserted. After that, the three support plates 12 were moved and fine-tuned in the horizontal and perpendicular directions to be arranged in approximately the same manner as in Example 4, in which the weight of the newborn was supported.
With this embodiment 6, it was confirmed that the insertion aid plate 11 and the support plate 12, which are components of the body lift system 100, can be inserted into the bed surface 15a such as a metal surface, a polyvinyl chloride tile , or the ground outdoors. By combining with the load support member 14, which is a human hand or arm, and the lifting mechanism 15, it becomes possible to insert a nursing care tool for use in a disaster, such as a stretcher, under the bedridden person K.
Example 7

(1) As in Examples 1 to 4, a commercially available futon (100 cm x 200 cm, approximately 5 cm thick, approximately 3 cm compressed) with a commercially available sheet sewn onto the surface was placed on a commercially available stretcher (Nursing Stretcher, NST-1, manufactured by Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd.), and since this experiment was conducted with a load support member 14 installed, the commercially available futon with a sewn onto the surface used in Examples 1 to 3 was folded in half on top of the stretcher (194 cm long, 54 cm wide), and the resulting futon was approximately 200 cm x 50 cm, approximately 10 cm thick, and approximately 5 cm compressed, and used as a single futon for the experiment. A 162 cm tall, 69 kg weight adult male experimenter was made to lie on his back with his hands folded, wearing commercially available pajamas on top of the futon and a care supporter over his head to cover his hair. Since an adult is larger than a newborn doll, the insertion of the insertion aid plate 11 was omitted, and seven support plates 12 (with tapered insertion tip and both sides, and chamfered left and right corners of the insertion tip) of the same specifications as those used in Example 2 were inserted in order from the head to the foot side, starting from the left side (left hand side) of the adult. The insertion tip was inserted slowly while pushing the sheet sewn with thread to the futon on the stretcher. When inserting the lower leg and ankle, the support plate 12 rolled up the loose tube of the right pajama pants (the tip of the support plate 12 was covered by the cloth), and a large insertion resistance occurred, but the caregiver (the person inserting the support plate 12 in this Example 7) was able to continue the insertion by removing the cloth from the insertion tip with bare hands, and the insertion of the seven support plates 12 was completed. The distance from the top of the head of the recumbent K to the intersection of the median plane of the recumbent K and the longitudinal center line of the support plate 12, i.e., the approximate position of the insertion of the support plate 12, is shown in Table 6.

These support plates 12 cover only part of, but not the entire, back of the lying person K. Using these support plates 12, the following lift-up experiment (2) was carried out.
(2) A cedar board (thickness: 14 mm, width: 90 mm, length: 975 mm) with a tapered tip was prepared as the auxiliary support plate 13. The tapered tip was cut using a saw. The specifications of the auxiliary support plate 13 are shown in Table 7.

In accordance with the position of the support plate 12, the auxiliary support plate 13 was inserted directly below it, using the support plate 12 as a guide, that is, between the support plate 12 and the surface of a commercially available futon folded in half with a sheet sewn with thread on the stretcher (an example of a lifting mechanism 15 having a lying surface 15a) facing the lying person, in order from the left side (the side of the left hand) to the right side and from the head side to the foot side of the lying person K. The auxiliary support plate 13 could be inserted without much resistance.
(3) The length of the support plate 12 is 900 mm, the length of the auxiliary support plate 13 is 975 mm, and the width of the stretcher on which the adult patient K is lying is 540 mm. The support plate 12 and the auxiliary support plate 13 protrude from the stretcher on which the adult patient K is lying. After adjusting the protruding widths of each plate to the left and right evenly, a separate stretcher, PARAMOUNT BED KK-700-095D, is first placed as a load supporting member 14 on the right side (right hand side) of the stretcher on which the adult patient K is lying. The height of the stretcher is adjusted so that the bottom surface of the support auxiliary plate 13 protruding to the right side of the patient K is almost in contact with the right stretcher. After that, another stretcher, PARAMOUNT BED KK-700-095D, is placed as a load supporting member 14 on the left side (left hand side) of the patient K. KA-881 was placed, and the height of the stretcher was adjusted so that, just like on the right side, the bottom surface of the auxiliary support plate 13 protruding to the left side of the recumbent patient K was at a height that was approximately in contact with the stretcher on the left side.
(4) The height of the stretchers as the load support members 14 on the left and right of the stretcher on which the lying person K is lying is finely adjusted, and it is confirmed that the auxiliary support plates 13 are supported by the left and right stretchers, that is, it is confirmed that the auxiliary support plates 13 are supported horizontally, and as a result, it is confirmed that the support plate 12 on the auxiliary support plates 13 and the lying person K on the support plates 12 are supported horizontally, and the stretcher on which the lying person K is lying, which also serves as the lifting mechanism 15, is lowered by slowly turning the lifting handle on the floor surface, and a space S is formed around the entire back of the lying person K. In this Example 7, the size of the space S directly below the lying person K was about 16 cm deep, about 63 cm wide, and about 200 cm long.
(5) In the seventh embodiment, after about one minute has elapsed while the lying person K is lifted up relatively from the lying surface 15a (actually, the stretcher on which the lying person K is riding is lifted down), the stretcher, which is the lifting mechanism on which the lying person K is riding, is slowly raised, and the seven support auxiliary plates 13 supported by two other stretchers, which are the load supporting members 14, are brought into contact with the surface of a commercially available futon on the stretcher, the surface of which has a sheet sewn with thread, and the stretcher is returned to the state it was in just before it was lowered. After it has been confirmed that the weight of the support auxiliary plates 13, the weight of the support plates 12, and the weight of the lying person K are being supported by the stretcher on which the lying person K was originally riding, the height of the stretcher being used as the load supporting member 14 on the left side (left hand side) of the lying person K is lowered and moved away by a distance that will not interfere with the next operation of removing the plates from the stretcher on which the lying person K is riding. It was checked whether the body of the lying person K would tilt due to the removal of the left load support member 14, and the height of the right load support member 14 was fine-tuned. After that, the support auxiliary plates 13 were removed in order from the foot side of the left side of the lying person K toward the head side, and after all the support auxiliary plates 13 had been removed, the support plates 12 were removed in order from the foot side toward the head side, returning the lying person K to his original lying position.
In this Example 7, it was confirmed that the space S covering the entire area directly below the recumbent K could be formed for at least about 2 minutes from the start of descent of the lifting mechanism to its return. It took 5 and a half minutes from the insertion of the support plate 12 to the formation of the 16 cm space S, and about 2 minutes for the return thereafter. The recumbent K who participated in the experiment was on the plate for a total of 7 and a half minutes, but reported no particular pain or fatigue.
This Example 7 confirmed that the body lift system 100 of the present invention can form a space S directly below the lying person K that is sufficient for use in treatments including medical care, nursing, or caregiving.
Example 8

As in Example 7, a commercially available futon with a sheet sewn on the surface was folded in half, approximately 200 cm x 50 cm, about 10 cm thick, and about 5 cm when compressed, placed on a commercially available stretcher (Nursing Stretcher, NST-1, manufactured by Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd.). An additional sheet was placed on top of the folded futon, and all four sides of the sheet were folded under the futon in the same manner as making a bed. A commercially available adult doll was used as the bedridden person K. The adult doll was dressed in Japanese-style nightwear and was made to lie down with its hands folded on the sheet that had been unfolded without wrinkles and folded under the bed. The adult doll had no hair, but a folded bath towel (25 cm x 35 cm, 2-3 cm thick) was placed on the back of its head as a pillow. After that, seven of the same support plates 12 as used in Example 7 (with tapered insert tip and both sides, and chamfered left and right corners of insert tip) were inserted directly below the adult doll, i.e., between the adult doll and the sheet, in the following order: waist, chest, buttocks, shoulders, ankles, between the bath towel and sheet at the head, and thighs. The approximate distance from the top of the head to the intersection of the longitudinal center line of the support plate 12 and the median plane of the adult doll's body is summarized in [Table 8].

Thereafter, seven auxiliary support plates 13, the same as those used in Example 7, were inserted under the support plate 12 in the following order: waist, chest, buttocks, head, shoulders, thighs, and ankles.
A kp PARAMOUNT BED and a PARAMOUNT BED KK-700-095D manufactured by Kimura Sleeping Platform Co., Ltd. were placed on the right side (towards the right hand of the doll) and left side of the stretcher on which the lying person K is lying, respectively, as load-bearing members 14. The stretcher was used as a lifting mechanism 15 on which the adult doll is lying, and the lying surface 15a was lowered to form a space S directly below the adult doll, with a distance of about 10 cm between the lying surface 15a and the stretcher.
This space S was used to change the sheets, which is one of the procedures including medical, nursing, or caregiving. The sheet that was placed over the doubled futon on the stretcher was removed, and another sheet was placed over it. In the same manner as making a bed, the wrinkles in the sheet were removed, and the four sides of the sheet were tucked under the futon.
Thereafter, similarly to Example 7, the floor surface of the stretcher being used as the lifting mechanism was raised and brought into contact with the bottom surface of the auxiliary support plate 13, and the floor surface of the stretcher was returned to the state it was in immediately before it was lowered. After confirming that the stretcher on which the adult doll is riding is supporting the weight of the support auxiliary plate 13, the weight of the support plate 12, and the weight of the doll, which is the recumbent person K, the stretcher used as the load support member 14 on the left side (left hand side) of the recumbent person K is lowered, and while checking that the body of the recumbent person K does not tilt due to the left load support member 14 being detached, the height of the right load support member 14 is fine-tuned, and it is confirmed that the recumbent doll, the support plate 12 below it, and the support auxiliary plate 13 below the support plate 12 are stable in an approximately horizontal position, and the support auxiliary plates 13 are removed in order from the foot side toward the head side, and after all the support auxiliary plates 13 have been removed, the support plates 12 are removed in order from the foot side toward the head side, returning the recumbent person K to its original lying position.
In this embodiment 8, by creating a space S of 10 cm between the lying person K and the bed surface 15a using the body lift system 100 of the present invention, it is possible to change the sheets of the lying person K while he or she is in the same position as when lying down. It was also confirmed that wrinkles in the sheets can be removed when changing the sheets.
Example 9

A commercially available futon with a surface sheet sewn on with thread, folded in half, measuring approximately 200 cm x 50 cm, with a thickness of approximately 10 cm and a compressed thickness of approximately 5 cm, was placed on the same commercially available stretcher (Nursing Stretcher, NST-1, manufactured by Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd.) as used in Example 7, and a commercially available adult doll was used as the recumbent K. The adult doll was dressed in Japanese-style nightwear and was made to lie on the futon on the stretcher with its hands folded. A wig was placed over the head of the adult doll to prevent the hair from being affected when the board was inserted, and a folded bath towel (25 cm x 35 cm, 2-3 cm thick) was placed under the doll's head as a pillow.
(1) After that, seven support plates 12 (with tapered insert tip and both sides, and chamfered left and right corners of insert tip) used in Example 7 were inserted from the head side, in the order of head, shoulders, waist, buttocks, upper thighs, lower thighs, and heels, directly below the adult doll, i.e., between the adult doll and the sheet sewn with thread to the futon. After that, the same auxiliary support plates 13 as used in Example 7 were inserted under the support plates 12 in the same order as the inserting order of the support plates 12. Table 9 shows the inserting position of the support plates 12 and the inserting order of the support plates 12 and the auxiliary support plates 13. The inserting position is shown as an approximate distance from the top of the head to the intersection of the center line of the longitudinal direction of the support plates 12 and the median plane.

(2) After the plate was inserted, a kp PARAMOUNT BED and a PARAMOUNT BED KK-700-095D manufactured by Kimura Sleeping Platform Co., Ltd. were placed on the right side (toward the doll's right hand) and left side of the stretcher on which the recumbent K was riding, respectively, as load-supporting members 14, and the lifting mechanism of the stretcher used as the lifting mechanism of the body lift system 100 was used to lower the recumbent surface 15a to form a space S directly under the adult doll. The distance between the sheet surface on the futon and the lower surface of the auxiliary support plate 13 was 7.5 cm on the head side and 8.5 cm on the foot side.
(3) Using this space S, the top of the double-folded futon was shifted to the location where the left half of the adult doll was to rest, and a step was created along the length of the futon, with one futon on the right side of the doll and two on the left side, and two cedar planks used as the auxiliary support plate 13 were placed underneath the double-folded futon in the lengthwise direction (two vertically and two vertically, for a total of four), creating a step on the left and right sides of the futon. This step-shaped futon was used as a care mat, and the following was carried out.
(4) The lifting mechanism with the stepped futon on it was slowly raised, and although the board and the adult doll on it were slightly tilted, the stepped futon was brought into contact with the underside of the auxiliary support plate 13. After that, when the left and right stretchers used as the load support members 14 were lowered, the board and the adult doll on it were tilted more, but they did not slide off.
(5) From the left side (the left hand side of the doll) where the adult doll's body is raised, the auxiliary support plate 13 and the support plate 12 are removed together from the foot side to the head side, and a lateral position in which the left side of the adult doll is slightly raised is formed. The inclination angle is measured to be 16° on the foot side and 15° on the head side. A lateral position of about 15° has been formed.
In this Example 9, it was confirmed that the body lift system 100 can be used to change the position of a bedridden person K by combining it with a futon or a nursing mat.
Example 10

Examples 10 to 12 were carried out on the premise that one nurse or caregiver was caring for and caring for one bedridden person who was unable to move on his/her own, and one experimenter acted as the nurse or caregiver to provide the care.
A commercially available stretcher ( PARAMONT BED KK-700-095D, length: 190 cm, width: 54 cm) was used with a commercially available futon, the surface of which was sewn with thread, folded in half to have a size of approximately 200 cm x 50 cm, a thickness of approximately 10 cm, and a size of approximately 5 cm when compressed, as in Example 7. The subject was made to wear commercially available pajamas on top of the futon, and a folded bath towel (25 cm x 35 cm, thickness 2 to 3 cm) was used as a pillow for the head, and an adult male experimenter (height 176 cm, weight 65 kg) playing the role of the bedridden person lay in a supine position with hands folded. The purpose of the experiment in this Example 10 was to put on and take off underwear (pants or underwear) for the lower body, and the adult was made to wear two pajama pants with different patterns, and the experiment was conducted to see whether or not one pair of pants could be put on and taken off.
(1) The support plate 12 used in Example 7 (a plastic plate of SAKK608 manufactured by Takiron Co., Ltd., with tapered insertion tip and both sides and chamfered left and right corners of the insertion tip) was inserted from the right side (right hand side) of the adult bedridden person K, in the following order: head, shoulders, chest, upper thighs, and just below the waist.
(2) After that, in order to create space directly below the buttocks for removing underwear from the lower body, first one cedar wood board (thickness 14 mm) of the same specifications as the support auxiliary plate 13 used in Example 7 was inserted as support auxiliary plate 13 under the plastic support plate 12 inserted directly below the waist and thighs, and then, in order to expand the space directly below the buttocks, another cedar wood board of the same specifications as the support auxiliary plate 13 was inserted as a fourth board under the previously inserted support auxiliary plate 13.
(3) After that, the lower back and thighs are supported by the support plate 12, auxiliary support plate 13, and the fourth plate, and a space is formed under the buttocks sandwiched between them, the thickness of the support plate 12, auxiliary support plate 13, and the fourth plate, theoretically a space of (3 + 14 x 2) mm. The futon rises, so the depth of the space becomes smaller, but it was possible to expand the space.
(4) The upper pants of the two pajama pants were removed by sliding the plastic part of the support plate 12. The buttocks could be moved without much resistance, and the thighs passed between the recumbent K and the plate placed directly under his thighs while lifting his legs slightly as they slid along the plastic surface of the support plate 12, and the pajama pants were removed. The time required from the start of inserting the support plate 12 to removing the pajama pants was just under two and a half minutes.
In this Example 10, it was confirmed that the body lift system 100 using the support plate 12, the auxiliary support plate 13, and the fourth plate allows a nurse or caregiver to help a bedridden person who cannot move by himself or herself to change clothes, wipe, remove clothing such as pajama pants and underwear necessary for excretion and various other treatments.
Example 11

Following Example 10, the following experiment was carried out on the bedridden adult K, with the upper pajama pants removed, the support plate 12 inserted around the head, shoulders and chest, and the support plate 12, auxiliary support plate 13 and the fourth plate inserted around the waist and thighs. Note that steps (1) to (4) are almost the same as in Example 7.
(1) First, the fourth plate inserted in the waist and thigh areas, i.e., the lower one of the two support auxiliary plates 13, located on the side facing the lying surface, was removed from the right side (right hand side) of the lying adult, in that order from the thigh and waist areas.
(2) After that, a support plate 12 was inserted just below the lower leg, and then a support auxiliary plate 13 was inserted just below the support plate 12 that had already been inserted, in the order of the head, shoulders, and chest. A support plate 12 and a support auxiliary plate 13 were also inserted into the buttocks, where a plate had not been inserted in order to remove the pajama pants, and finally a support auxiliary plate 13 was inserted just below the support plate 12 in the lower leg, completing the insertion of a total of seven support plates 12 and seven support auxiliary plates 13 just below them, and the left-right balance of the plates inserted from the head to just below the lower leg was confirmed.
(3) A stretcher (Nursing Stretcher, NST-1, manufactured by Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd.) was placed on the left side of the stretcher on which adult bedridden patient K was lying, and a stretcher (kp PARAMOUNT BED, manufactured by Kimura Sleeping Platform Co., Ltd.) was placed on the right side as load-supporting members 14, and the ends of the seven plates, i.e., the ends of the lower surfaces of the support auxiliary plates 13, were adjusted so that they rested horizontally on the left and right load-supporting members 14.
(4) After that, the lifting mechanism of the stretcher carrying the adult bedridden person K was used as the lifting mechanism of the body lift system 100 to lower the bed surface 15a. After the lowering, the distance between the lower surface of the auxiliary support plate 13 and the bed surface 15a of the futon sheet on the stretcher was about 18 cm.
(5) After that, the casters of the stretcher on which adult patient K was originally riding were unlocked, and the stretcher was moved toward the head of patient K. The backrest was tilted down so that there was no gap at the foot end of the stretcher as shown in Figure 5, and the prepared wheelchair was connected after adjusting the height of the tilted backrest and the toilet seat placed on the seat so that they were roughly the same height. The toilet seat placed on the seat of the wheelchair was then moved to a position directly under the buttocks of patient K, who had been lifted up.
(6) The wheelchair with a toilet seat on the seat (5) is used as a wheelchair for moving to the toilet, and wheelchairs for moving to the toilet are already on the market (for example, TOTO, toilet, "Bathroom wheelchair", [online], [searched on February 28, 2017] <url:http://www.toto.co.jp/products/ud/toilet/index.htm>). In this Example 11, since it is necessary to adjust the height with the body lift system 100 of the present invention and to tilt the seat horizontally, a wheelchair as shown in FIG. 5 was homemade. The backrest 18 (length 17 cm) of the wheelchair 21 (manufactured by MEYRA, Model 3.800) was tilted down, and the grip 19 used by the nurse or caregiver was facing downward, but the grip 19 was supported by a step ladder 20, and a four-legged toilet seat 17 (manufactured by Yoshino Shokai Co., Ltd., Benrack, this toilet seat is a type that can be placed on a Japanese-style toilet or a floor-mounted toilet on which the buttocks of the bedridden person K rest, it is about 16.5 cm high, about 40 cm wide, about 28 cm deep, and has an open front) was placed on the seat, and the height of the toilet seat 17 was adjusted to the same level as the height of the arm (63 cm from the floor) by placing a cushion (not shown) on the seat 7 of the chair 21 and a metal plate (not shown) on top of it. The wheelchair 21 was connected to the end of the stretcher 30.
(7) The lifting mechanisms of the other stretchers arranged on the left and right sides were used as the lifting mechanisms of the load support members 14, and the lying person K was lowered until the underside of the support auxiliary plates 13 came into contact with the stretcher 30 on which the lying person K was originally riding and the toilet seat of the wheelchair 21 connected to the end of the stretcher 30. After the person was lowered, fine adjustments were made while checking that the seven support auxiliary plates 13 and the seven support plates 12 were being supported by the stretcher on which the lying person K was originally riding in a balanced manner on the left and right.
(8) After that, the support auxiliary plates 13 for the waist, chest, and buttocks were slowly removed in that order, and the buttocks of the recumbent K were lowered onto the toilet seat 17 on the wheelchair 21. Next, the support auxiliary plates 13 for the thighs, shoulders, and head were removed, and further the support plates 12 were removed in the order of the head, shoulders, waist, chest, buttocks, and thighs, at which point the buttocks of the recumbent K were transferred onto the toilet seat 17 on the wheelchair 21. Directly below the lower legs are on the footrest 16 of the wheelchair 21, and since there is a drop, the experimenter acting as a nurse or caregiver supports the lower legs of the bedridden person K while simultaneously removing the support auxiliary plate 13 and the support plate 12, and lowers the legs of the bedridden person K, who is sitting on the toilet seat, from the seat of the wheelchair 21 onto the footrest 16, following the slope of the leg rest located halfway down and the footrest 16 located below the leg rest.
(9) At this point, the patient K is lying on his back from the waist up, his buttocks are resting on the toilet seat 17 on the wheelchair 21, and his upper body is bent with his thighs, lower legs and heels running from the legs of the wheelchair 21 to the leg rest and foot rest 16. The stretcher used as one of the load support members 14 on the left side (left hand side) of the patient K is removed from the side of the patient K, and the experimenter acting as a nurse or caregiver stands on the left side of the patient K and lifts up the upper body of the patient K, which is resting on the backrest of the wheelchair 21, together with the backrest, locks the backrest 18, and transfers the patient K completely into the wheelchair 21.
(10) After that, the wheels of the wheelchair 21 were unlocked, and the bedridden person K on the wheelchair 21 was moved to a corner of the laboratory that was intended to be a toilet. The prototype toilet wheelchair 21 has a seat surface under the toilet seat 17, and no holes, but commercially available toilet wheelchairs 21 have holes, and can be moved onto, for example, a Western-style toilet, so that the bedridden person K, who has removed his or her underwear in Example 10, can relieve himself or herself.
(11) After the excretion was dealt with, the stretcher in use as the load-bearing member 14, which was originally located on the right side (right hand side) of the stretcher on which the bedridden person K was lying, was moved to one side, and a working space for the experimenters acting as nurses or caregivers was formed on the right side where the bedridden person K was originally lying. Initially, the stretcher 30 on which the lying person K was riding and the stepladder 20 supporting the grip 19 of the wheelchair 21 were left in their original positions without being moved, and the position of the stepladder 20, which was at the end of the stretcher 30 and supported the grip 19 of the backrest 18 of the wheelchair 21, was adjusted again, and then the wheelchair 21 was connected to the end of the stretcher 30 and the stepladder 20, the wheels of the wheelchair 21 were locked, the backrest 18 was unlocked, the backrest was tilted back while supporting the back of the lying person K, and the grip 19 of the backrest 18 was supported by the stepladder 20, the lower half of the lying person K sat on the wheelchair 21, and the upper half of the lying person K took a supine position on the backrest 18 of the wheelchair 21 and the stretcher 30, and a folded bath towel was placed on the stretcher 30 as a substitute for a pillow, and the lying person K's head was placed on it to form a posture.
(12) From the right side (right hand side) of the bedridden person K, the support plate 12 was inserted slightly above the buttocks (hereinafter referred to as the upper buttocks) in relation to the following Example 12. Next, insertion into the thighs was performed, but the toilet seat 17 was located directly below the thighs and the upper buttocks, and there was a hole in the toilet seat 17 part, and since the toilet seat 17 of this homemade toilet wheelchair 21 has an upwardly convex curved surface, the insertion tip hit the surface just before the apex, so the experimenter acting as a nurse or caregiver inserted the support plate 12 while slightly lifting the thighs of the bedridden person K.
(13) After that, the support plate 12 was inserted directly under the pillow made of folded towel on the stretcher 30 on which the head of the bedridden person K was resting, and the support plate 12 was inserted under the shoulders at the boundary between the wheelchair 21 and the stretcher 30.
(14) Next, the support plate 13 was inserted into the head, shoulders and upper buttocks, the support plate 12 was inserted into the lower back, followed by the support plate 13, and the support plate 12 was inserted into the chest, followed by the support plate 13.
At this point, the lower half of the bedridden person K was sitting in the wheelchair 21.
(15) Next, the auxiliary support plate 13 is inserted under the support plate 12 for the thighs of the lower body while lifting the thighs slightly, and two load support members 14 consisting of a stretcher different from the one on which the recumbent person K is lying are placed on the left and right of the stretcher on which the upper body of the recumbent person K is lying; that is, a nursing stretcher NST-1 manufactured by Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd. is placed on the left side, and a kp PARAMOUNT BED manufactured by Kimura Sleeping Platform Co., Ltd. is placed on the right side. While lifting the ankles of the recumbent person K, the support plate 12 is placed on top of the auxiliary support plate 13, and is simultaneously inserted just under the lower legs, and both ends of the auxiliary support plate 13 are supported by the load support members 14, completing the insertion of all plates.
(16) Confirm that the seven support auxiliary plates 13 and the support plates 12 are even on the left and right, raise the lifting mechanism of the load support member 14, support the weight of the lying person K with the support auxiliary plates 13, form a space directly below these plates, push the stretcher 30 below the plates from the head side to the feet side of the lying person K, push out the wheelchair 21 and the stepladder 20, confirm that the whole body of the lying person K is on the stretcher 30 on which he was originally standing, raise the lifting mechanism of the stretcher 30, confirm that the futon on the stretcher 30 is supporting the support auxiliary plates 13, the support plates 12 above them, and the weight of the lying person K on these plates, move the stretcher to the right (right hand side) of the lying person K to the side, create a working space on the right (right hand side) of the stretcher 30 on which the lying person K is standing, and remove the support plate 12 for the lower leg and the support auxiliary plate 13 below that all at once. At this point, a total of six support plates 12 and support auxiliary plates 13 from the thighs to the head remain and have not been removed. As in Example 7, these plates can be removed to return the lying person K to a lying position on the lying surface 15a. However, since the lying person K has removed his underwear from the lower half of his body, the process of returning the lying person K to a lying position is interrupted at this point, and the process proceeds to Example 12, in which the lying person K puts on his underwear from the lower half of his body.
Incidentally, Example 10 and Example 11 are consecutive, and the time elapsed from the initial insertion of the support plate 12 in Example 10 to the removal of the lower body underwear and transfer to the wheelchair 21 was about 10 and a half minutes, the time elapsed from moving to the toilet, relieving the user, and docking again with the wheelchair 21 was about 13 minutes, and the time elapsed from having the bedridden person K lie down on the bed until just before the operation of putting on the lower body underwear was about 22 minutes.
In this embodiment 11, by using the body lift system 100, a nurse or caregiver can change or adjust the relative position of the bedridden person K and the bed by switching the bed or stretcher on which the bedridden person K lies, moving the bedridden person K to another bed or stretcher, or moving the bed K up and down (head direction, foot direction) or left and right (left hand direction, right hand direction) on the floor surface, and transfer the bedridden person K to a wheelchair 21. It has been confirmed that by linking the transfer to the wheelchair 21 according to the present invention with various wheelchairs 21 such as a toilet wheelchair 21 and a bathing wheelchair 21 already available on the market, even a bedridden person who cannot move on his/her own can relieve himself/herself in the toilet and take a bath.
Example 12

Continuing from Example 11, Example 12 started with a commercially available futon with a surface sheet sewn with thread folded in half and measuring approximately 200 cm x 50 cm, with a thickness of approximately 10 cm, and a size of approximately 5 cm when compressed, placed on a commercially available stretcher (PARAMONT BED KK-700-095D), and a bedridden person K lying on top of the futon with support plates 12 inserted directly under the thighs, upper buttocks, waist, chest, shoulders, and head, and support auxiliary plates 13 inserted underneath.
(1) The pajama pants removed in Example 10 were first pulled down onto both legs of the bedridden patient K up to just above the knees, and the head support plate 12 and auxiliary support plate 13 under the pillow were then removed.
(2) Then, a fourth plate having exactly the same specifications as the auxiliary support plate 13 was inserted under the thigh support plate 13, and then under the upper buttock support plate 13.
(3) When sliding the pajama pants, which had been pulled down above the knees, over the thigh support plate 12, and feeling resistance to movement due to the bedridden person K's body being pinched between the plate and the pajama pants, the caregiver lifted the buttocks slightly while helping the person put the pants on.
(4) After that, the fourth plate for the thigh and the other support support plate 13 for the thigh were removed, followed by the fourth plate for the upper buttocks and the other support support plate 13 for the upper buttocks, and then the support support plates 13 for the waist, chest and shoulders were removed.
(5) The support plates 12 for the shoulders, chest, waist, upper buttocks, and thighs were removed, and the bedridden person K was returned to a resting lying position.
In addition, from the start of insertion of the initial support plate 12 in Example 10 until the bedridden person K in this Example 12 returns to the bed with the support plate 12 and the auxiliary support plate 13 laid out, the elapsed time until the bedridden person K puts on underwear is approximately 23 and a half minutes, and the elapsed time until all the plates are removed and the bedridden person K is returned to a resting lying state is approximately 24 and a half minutes.
In this Example 12, it was confirmed that by using the body lift system 100, a nurse or caregiver can dress a bedridden person K who is unable to move on his/her own, such as pajama pants, or other clothing and underwear.
The above steps in Examples 10 to 12 and the approximate elapsed time and required time are summarized in Table 10.

〔実施例１３〕

Example 13

As in Example 5, a newborn doll was used, a hard polyvinyl chloride plate (TAKIRON Co., Ltd. SAKK608, thickness 3 mm, width 100 mm, length 900 mm, tapered at the insertion tip and both sides, chamfered at the left and right corners of the insertion tip) was used as the support plate 12, and a commercially available bed (Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd., home electric nursing bed RS, 1975 mm x 998 mm) was used with a commercially available mattress (approximately 194 cm x approximately 96 cm) placed on top of it, and a commercially available futon (100 cm x 200 cm, thickness approximately 5 cm, approximately 3 cm when compressed) with a surface sheet partially sewn with thread was placed on top of that, and a diaper change was performed on the newborn doll as shown in Figure 6.
The experiment was conducted with a newborn doll wearing cotton nightgowns on a seamless, flat part of the bed sheet, with no sagging, and with no visible wrinkles on the doll's back. A care supporter was placed over the head to simulate hair coverage (although since the doll had a shaved head, it actually had no hair), and the doll was placed in a supine position with its arms spread out to the sides, and then the experiment was conducted.
(1) A support plate 12 is inserted directly below the newborn doll, i.e., between the futon sheet (at the position where the longitudinal center line of the plate intersects with the median plane of the doll about 21 cm from the top of the head). After that, the nightgown for the legs is tucked up, and a wire-reinforced foam plastic sheet (SAM MEDICAL, SAM SPLINT) is wrapped around it to form a cylindrical shape. The cylinder 40 (outer diameter about 35 mm) with the seams fixed with adhesive tape is inserted under the knees of the newborn doll, so that the knees and thighs are raised.
(2) The end of the support plate 12 was raised, and a rectangular member 22 (a book was used in this experiment) about 40 mm thick was used as the load support member 14 and slid underneath it, and similarly the end of the cylinder 40 was raised, and a rectangular member 22 of a different thickness was used as the load support member 14, and the height from the surface of the futon sheet to the back of the doll and the height from the bottom of the knee joints were adjusted to about the same height of 45 mm, to support the doll. Note that the doll was only supported by the knees and directly below the chest, with the knees raised from the chest and the heels hanging down from the head and lower legs, but since this was an experiment on changing a diaper on the buttocks, no other plates were inserted.
(3) After that, using the space formed between the cylinder 40 and the sheet under the thighs and buttocks, the tape of the tape-fastened diaper that the doll was originally wearing was removed, the diaper was pulled downwards in the space below the doll, the buttocks were wiped with wet tissues, a tape-fastened diaper of the same type as the one that was removed was placed under the doll's buttocks, the front part of the diaper that was to be placed on the top of the doll was pulled out through the space between the buttocks, genitals and knees, the tape on the waist side of the part of the diaper on the back of the doll that was to be placed on the doll's buttocks was pulled up from below through the space formed on the side of the doll's body, and the tape was fastened so that the front, back and left and right sides of the diaper overlap appropriately, and so that the diaper was wrapped around the doll's buttocks without being too tight or too loose. Since the weight of the doll was being supported, the position of the diaper could be adjusted with both hands, and the tape fastening that affects the tightness and looseness of the diaper could also be easily adjusted.
Thereafter, the tucked-up nightwear is passed under the cylinder 40 and stretched along the surface of the bed sheets, the cylinder 40 is removed, the load-supporting members 14 on the upper part of the doll's body are removed in order from the left and then the right, the load-supporting members 14 (books) on the lower half of the doll's body that were originally supporting the cylindrical foam sheet are removed in order from the left and then the right, the nightwear is adjusted, and the support plate 12 under the chest is removed, completing the operation.
In this Example 13, the time required from inserting the support plate 12 to treatment such as changing a diaper and then returning to normal was about 3 minutes. This Example 13 confirmed that the body lift system 100 allows nurses and caregivers to use both hands freely to change diapers and wipe the genitals, and that by inserting a toilet bowl or a genital washer directly under the buttocks instead of a diaper, it becomes possible to use both hands to assist excretion for the required time while supporting the buttocks of the bedridden person K with the body lift system 100. It was also confirmed that the body lift system 100 can be used as a device to intentionally lift a part of the body according to the need for treatment including medical care, nursing, or caregiving.
Example 14

A commercially available futon (100cm x 200cm, about 5cm thick, about 3cm when compressed) with a surface sheet partially sewn with thread was placed on the commercially available stretcher (Kimura Sleeping Platform Co., Ltd. kp PARAMOUNT BED) used in Example 6, and a commercially available newborn doll was placed on the flat part of the sheet on the futon (the part without stitching) and the experiment was performed. The newborn doll was dressed in cotton nightwear with no slack, and the doll's back was dressed in a state where no wrinkles were observed, a care supporter was placed over the head to simulate hair coverage (although the doll had a shaved head and no hair in reality), the hands of the doll were shaped to intertwine, and the experiment was performed in a position where a person was lying on their back with their hands clasped, and a folded bath towel (25cm x 35cm, 2-3cm thick) was placed behind the head as a pillow.
In this experiment, the insertion aid plate 11 was not used, and the support plate 12 was a commercially available wire mesh hard polyvinyl chloride plate (SAKK608 manufactured by Takiron Co., Ltd.) with a thickness of 3 mm, a width of about 58 cm, and a length of about 100 cm. The insertion tip, which is about 58 cm wide, and both sides that are approximately perpendicular to the insertion tip were tapered in the same manner as described in [Table 2] of Example 2, and the left and right corners of the insertion tip were chamfered in the same manner as in Example 2.
The support plate 12 was inserted by slightly lifting the ankles of the newborn doll and lightly pressing the futon sheet with the tip of the plate from the foot side. It slid smoothly up to the pillow area, and the tip of the plate pressed against the pillow, so the support plate 12 was inserted while pressing the other side of the pillow (the side opposite the insertion side of the support plate 12) with the other hand not holding the support plate 12, and the whole of the newborn doll from head to heels was placed on one support plate 12.
The tip of the same plate was covered with a slip sheet (Multi-Glove KZ-159033, manufactured by Paramount Bed) used in nursing care, i.e., a 50 cm x 20 cm glove was folded in half, a 50 cm x 10 cm sheet was placed over the tip, and the end was secured with adhesive tape. As described above, the ankle of the newborn doll was lifted slightly and the plate was inserted from the foot side. The insertion proceeded with little resistance, and when the tip of the plate pressed against the pillow, the other side of the pillow (the side opposite the insertion side of the support plate 12) was held down with the other hand not holding the support plate 12 while the support plate 12 was inserted, and the whole of the newborn baby from the head to the heels could be placed on one support plate 12. The support plate 12 was inserted more easily and lightly when covered with a slip sheet.
This Example 14 confirmed that a large support plate 12 (3 mm, approximately 58 cm, approximately 100 cm) and a single plate can be inserted, and that the slip sheet helps the insertion. In addition, it was confirmed that a plate with a thickness of 3 mm, a width of approximately 58 cm, and a length of approximately 100 cm can pass through the back of a doll, but can also push out objects such as pillows depending on their shape.
Example 15

As in Example 7, a commercially available futon (100 cm x 200 cm, approximately 5 cm thick, approximately 3 cm when compressed) with a commercially available sheet sewn on the surface was placed on a commercially available stretcher (Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., Nursing Stretcher, NST-1, length 194 cm, width 54 cm), and an adult male 176 cm tall and weighing 58 kg was placed on the futon sheet. In this Example 15, the commercially available plastic ruler TCC0-102 used in Example 1 was used as the insertion support plate 11, and the hard polyvinyl chloride plate used in Example 2 (TAKIRON Co., Ltd., SAKK608, thickness 3 mm, width 100 mm, length 900 mm, insertion tip and both sides tapered, left and right corners of the insertion tip chamfered) was used as the support plate 12.
(1) Patient K, lying supine on the mattress of the stretcher, inserted the insertion aid plate 11 directly under his head. Because he had hair, patient K inserted the aid plate 11 from the top of his head toward his chin using the taper of a commercially available plastic ruler TCC0-102, that is, with the short side of the trapezoidal cross section of this ruler facing the body of the patient and the long side facing the mattress on the stretcher, and with his head slightly raised.
(2) After that, the caregiver inserted the support plate 12 directly below the insertion aid plate 11 that the bedridden person K had inserted himself. The support plate 12 slid between the insertion aid plate 11 and the futon sheet and penetrated without any problems.
(3) The caregiver removed the head insertion aid plate 11 and the support plate 12, and then inserted the insertion aid plate 11 directly below the neck of the bedridden patient K in the same manner as in (1). Because there is a space between the neck and the surface of the futon sheet, the caregiver pressed down on the insertion aid plate 11 and slid the support plate 12 between the insertion aid plate 11 and the surface of the futon sheet, directly below the insertion aid plate 11. The support plate 12 penetrated without any problems.
(4) As in (3), the caregiver removed the insertion aid plate 11 and the support plate 12 from the neck area, then the person being cared for inserted the insertion aid plate 11 directly under the shoulder area, and the caregiver inserted the support plate 12 directly under the insertion aid plate 11, between the insertion aid plate 11 and the futon sheet. The support plate 12 penetrated without any problems.
(5) As in the above, the bedridden person K inserted the insertion support plates 11 into each part of his body directly beneath him, and the caregiver inserted the support plates 12 beneath the insertion support plates 11 inserted by the bedridden person K, and once the insertion was confirmed, the caregiver removed all the plates once, and then repeated the insertion beneath the lower back, buttocks, and thighs. The insertion and penetration of the insertion support plates 11 and support plates 12 beneath each part of the body was carried out without any particular problems.
This Example 15 confirmed that, depending on the health of the bedridden person K, if the situation permits, the bedridden person K can insert the insertion support plate 11 having a length of about 30 cm while adjusting the invasiveness by himself/herself. When the insertion support plate 11 is inserted, it is not difficult to insert the support plate 12, and the support support plate 13 can be inserted directly below the support plate 12. It was confirmed that it is possible to improve the ADL and QOL of bed life through cooperation between the care recipient and the caregiver.
Example 16

As shown in FIG. 10, two stretchers 15 were arranged vertically, that is, a nursing stretcher NST-1 (length 194 cm × width 54 cm, height 58 to 99 cm) manufactured by Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., the same as that used in Example 7, was arranged on the head side, and a PARAMOUNT BED KK-700-095D (length 190 cm × width 54 cm, height 55 to 87 cm) the same as that used in Example 7 was arranged on the leg side, and a support 24 (an example of a partial lifting section: an overbed table PARAMOUNT BED KF-270-0095D with the table board removed) having a flat plate with a width of 12 cm and a length of 36 cm and having a lifting function was sandwiched between the two stretchers 15, and a bed in which the connecting parts of the two stretchers 15 can be lifted and lowered was fabricated by ourselves. The support 24 made from the overbed table was placed between the two stretchers 15 as shown in Fig. 10, and was arranged symmetrically including the front-back and left-right spaces. The distance between the stretchers 15 was 22 cm, and a support platform 12 cm wide and 36 cm long was placed between them so that they were symmetrical in the front-back and left-right directions, and the heights of the head-side stretcher 15, support 24, and leg-side stretcher 15 were adjusted so that they were all the same.
A futon (100 cm x 200 cm, approximately 5 cm thick, approximately 3 cm when compressed) with the same commercially available surface sheet as used in Example 1 sewn with thread was placed on the homemade bed, and the tip of the futon was placed 106 cm from the end face of the head-side stretcher 15 opposite the support 24, and the futon was adjusted so that it was symmetrical on the homemade bed. An adult male experimenter playing the role of a patient, 176 cm tall and weighing 65 kg, lay on it with his buttocks on the support 24 (specifically, the greater trochanter was placed on the end face of the head-side stretcher 15 on the support 24 side, and the intermediate part between the greater trochanter and the knee was placed on the end face of the leg-side stretcher 15 on the support 24 side), and the position of the patient K was finely adjusted so that it was symmetrical on the homemade bed, completing the preparation for the experiment. The experimenter playing the role of the patient wore the same commercially available pajamas as those used in Example 10, and placed a folded bath towel as a pillow under his or her head.
(1) The purpose of this Example 16 is to confirm the difficulty of inserting the support plates 12 and the auxiliary support plates 13 when the supports 24 are lowered. For comparison, an experiment was also conducted to measure the difficulty of inserting the plates when the heights of the two stretchers 15 and the supports 24 were the same.
(2) Another experimenter playing the role of a nurse or caregiver inserted the support plate 12 used in Example 2 (a plastic plate of SAKK608 manufactured by Takiron Co., Ltd., with tapered insert tip and both sides, and chamfered left and right corners of the insert tip) between the experimenter playing the role of a patient and the top surface of the futon, directly under the buttocks of the bedridden person K. The insertion was carried out without any problems, and then, using the support plate 12 as a guide for insertion, a cedar wood plate (thickness 14 mm) of the same specifications as the auxiliary support plate 13 used in Example 7 was inserted as the auxiliary support plate 13. The insertion was carried out without any problems. The auxiliary support plate 13 was then removed, followed by the support plate 12.
(3) Next, using the lifting function of the support device 24, the height of the support device 24 was lowered 8 cm from the top surface of the stretcher 15. The experimenter playing the patient felt that because the support device 24 had been lowered, there was no support from the greater trochanter to the middle part between the greater trochanter and the knee, but he was supported by the greater trochanter and the thigh, and it was thought that the futon directly below this body part had the function of a hammock. There was no visible change in the lying state of the patient-playing person K, and the lying person commented that although he felt a little uncomfortable, he was not unstable and felt at ease.
The experimenter playing the role of a nurse or caregiver inserted the support plate 12 between the experimenter playing the role of the patient and the top surface of the futon. The bedridden patient K reported that he felt no resistance to the insertion of the support plate 12. Next, the support auxiliary plate 13 was inserted, but he also reported that he felt no resistance to the insertion of the support auxiliary plate 13.
(4) Thereafter, the lifting mechanism of the support device 24 was used to raise the support device 24 to the same height as the two stretchers 15, recreating the same insertion state as when the support device 24 was not raised or lowered, i.e., the state of (2).
(5) The support device 24 was lowered again, and the support plate 12 and the auxiliary support plate 13 were removed together. The experimenters playing the role of nurses and caregivers did not feel any resistance when the plates were removed.
(6) In the following, the support plate 12 used in (2) to (5), i.e., the support plate 12 used in Example 2 (a plastic plate of SAKK608 manufactured by Takiron Co., Ltd., with tapered insertion tip and both sides and chamfered left and right corners of the insertion tip) and the support auxiliary plate 13 used in (2) to (5), i.e., a cedar wood board (thickness 14 mm) of the same specifications as the support auxiliary plate 13 used in Example 7, will be used as the support plate 12. For the sake of distinction, the materials will be clearly indicated as support plate 12 (plastic plate) and support plate 12 (cedar board).
Using the same method as in (2) and (3), a comparative experiment was conducted in two states: when the support device 24 was at the same height as the stretcher 15, and when the support device 24 was lowered by 8 cm. This time, the same cedar board (thickness 14 mm) as used as the auxiliary support plate 13 in (2) to (5) was used as the support plate 12 to compare the difficulty of insertion.
The results are shown in Table 11, together with the insertion experiments of the support plate 12 (plastic plate) and the auxiliary support plate 13 in (2) and (3).
(7) With the support platform (3) lowered, the experimenter, playing the role of the patient, in a lying position, grasped the support plate 12 (plastic plate) with his left hand and inserted it between the patient's buttocks and the upper surface of the futon. The support plate 12 penetrated under the buttocks without much resistance. After that, he used both hands to adjust the left and right protruding parts of the plate so that they were even, and then removed it. The results are also shown in [Table 11].
As in (8) and (7), with the support device 24 in (3) lowered, the experimenter playing the role of the patient held the support plate 12 (a cedar board) with his/her left hand while lying down and performed the insertion and removal experiment himself/herself. The results are also shown in [Table 11].
In this embodiment 16, two types of support plate 12 are used: a plastic plate and a cedar plate, and in this table, the materials are specified as support plate 12 (plastic plate) and support plate 12 (cedar plate).

In this Example 16, it was confirmed that, in relation to the insertion of the support plate 12 (plastic plate), support plate 12 (cedar plate), and support auxiliary plate 13 required for treatment including medical care, nursing, or caregiving, the bed floor plate corresponding to the portion where these plates need to be inserted is partially lowered, so that when inserting the support plate 12 (plastic plate), support plate 12 (cedar plate), and support auxiliary plate 13, it is possible to reduce the invasiveness to the bedridden person K while maintaining the bed function of supporting the weight of the bedridden person K, and that the insertion work of the nurse or caregiver is lighter and easier. In addition, it was confirmed that, depending on the health condition of the bedridden person K, the bedridden person K himself or herself can insert the support plate 12 (plastic plate), support plate 12 (cedar plate), and support auxiliary plate 13 between himself or herself and the futon on the bed. The following [Table 12] shows an overview of the above Examples 1 to 16.

〔実施例１７〕

Example 17

(1) As in Example 7, a commercially available futon (100 cm x 200 cm, approximately 5 cm thick, approximately 3 cm when compressed) with a sheet sewn on the surface with thread was folded in half and placed on a commercially available stretcher (Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., Nursing Stretcher, NST-1, length 194 cm, width 54 cm), and the futon, approximately 200 cm x 50 cm, approximately 10 cm thick, approximately 5 cm when compressed, was used as a single futon to create a simulated mattress surface. On top of this, a summer futon (185 cm long, 120 cm wide, approximately 2 cm thick) placed in a bag-type bed sheet was also folded in half lengthwise and layered, and the upper surface of this was used as a simulated futon surface on which a recumbent would lie. This simulated futon surface has the general properties of a futon, but has flexibility as a flexible member 60.
(2) An adult male experimenter, who was to play the role of patient K, was made to lie on the simulated futon surface in a supine position with his hands folded, wearing commercially available pajamas. A folded bath towel (25 cm x 35 cm, 2-3 cm thick) was placed behind the head as a pillow.
(3) Furthermore, both the simulated mattress surface and the simulated futon surface were made by folding a futon in half, with the back of the folded futon (called a “wa” in nursing and caregiving jargon) facing the left hand of the reclining person, and the “wa” on the simulated futon surface facing the right hand of reclining person K.
(4) An adult male playing the role of a nurse/caregiver stood to the right of the experimenter playing the role of the bedridden person and inserted a total of 16 space-forming support plates 61b having the same specifications as the support plate 12 used in Example 7 between the simulated mattress surface (bed surface 15a) and the simulated futon surface, in a manner that they were roughly laid out from the head side to the foot side.
(5) Next, directly below the space forming support plate 61b, using the space forming support plate 61b as a guide, 16 space forming support auxiliary plates 61c having the same specifications as those used in Example 7 were inserted as space forming members 61. The insertion was carried out smoothly and without resistance.
Next, a process of using the space forming support plate 61b and the space forming auxiliary support plate 61c as the support plate 12 and the auxiliary support plate 13 serving as insertion members (insertion support members) will be described.
(6) At this point, the simulated mattress surface is raised by approximately 17 mm, which is equivalent to the thickness of the space-forming support plate 61b and the space-forming auxiliary support plate 61c, but in this state, first, the head-side space-forming support plate 61b was removed from between the simulated mattress surface and the simulated mattress surface, and the removed space-forming support plate 61b was inserted between the pillow of the recumbent K and the simulated mattress surface (insertion space Sp) as the support plate 12. The insertion was carried out smoothly without any significant resistance.
(7) Next, the head-side space-forming support auxiliary plate 61c was removed from between the simulated futon surface and the simulated mattress surface, and the space-forming support auxiliary plate 61c was inserted directly below the support plate 12 inserted between the pillow and the simulated futon surface of the recumbent K, using the support plate 12 as a guide. The insertion was carried out smoothly without any significant resistance.
(8) Next, at the shoulder, the space-forming support plate 61b is removed from between the simulated futon surface and the simulated mattress surface, and the space-forming support plate 61b is inserted between the recumbent K and the simulated futon surface as the support plate 12, and then the space-forming auxiliary support plate 61c is removed from between the simulated futon surface and the simulated mattress surface at the shoulder, and the space-forming auxiliary support plate 61c is inserted as the support auxiliary plate 13 directly below the support plate 12 inserted between the simulated futon surfaces, using the support plate 12 as a guide, and the same operation is repeated in sequence at the upper waist, upper buttocks, upper thighs, upper legs, and heels. There was no significant resistance to the insertion from the shoulder to the ankle, and it was performed smoothly.
After operations (9) and (8) are completed, the arrangement of the space-forming support plate 61b, space-forming support auxiliary plate 61c, support plate 12, and support auxiliary plate 13 above and below the flexible member 60 with the summer futon folded in half and placed inside the bag-type bed sheet is shown in Table 13.
(10) After that, the flexible member 60, which is made by folding a summer futon in half and putting it in a bag-type bed sheet, the space forming support plate 61b and the space forming auxiliary support plate 61c under the simulated futon surface are removed in order from the foot side to the head side, and the arrangement of the support plate 12 and the auxiliary support plate 13 immediately before being connected to the load support device of Example 7 is formed. After this, by connecting to the load support device in the same way as in Example 7, a space to be used for treatment including medical care, nursing, or care can be formed between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a. The time required to reach this state was just under 10 minutes.
(11) It was confirmed that the simulated mattress surface of the flexible member in the portion where the space forming support plate 61b and the space forming auxiliary support plate 61c were removed tends to sag slightly downward, and that by using this sagging as an insertion space Sp, the insertion member (support plate 12 and auxiliary support plate 13) can be more easily inserted between the recumbent K and the simulated mattress surface. In addition, the adult male experimenter who played the role of the recumbent K commented that he thought the sensation of a foreign body during insertion was reduced when inserting the support plate 12 and auxiliary support plate 13 in this method compared to the insertion method in Example 7, possibly because the pressure during insertion was reduced by the insertion space Sp.
(12) The number of plates moving from the underside of the futon (flexible member) to the top of the futon is not limited to seven as shown in this embodiment, and the number and locations may be appropriately selected taking into consideration the condition of the back of the bedridden person K (bedsores, injuries, etc.). Also, in this embodiment, the space forming support plates 61b and the space forming support auxiliary plates 61c are roughly laid out under the flexible member 60, but they do not necessarily have to be laid out completely to form the insertion space Sp, and they may be thinned out as appropriate.

〔実施例１８〕

Example 18

(1) As in Example 17, a stretcher, a simulated mattress surface, and a simulated futon surface were used, and in this Example 18, the cedar boards used in Example 7 were used as the space forming support boards 61b and the support boards 12 made of cedar boards, taking into consideration that they were combined with the flexible members 60. First, 17 space forming support boards 61b were inserted between the simulated mattress surface and the simulated futon surface from the head side of the recumbent K to the heels in a manner that almost completely covered the space. The insertion was carried out smoothly without any significant resistance.
In Example 17, the space forming support plate 61b (width 100 mm) was inserted, and the space forming support auxiliary plate 61c (width 90 mm) was inserted directly below it, but in this experiment, only the space forming support plate 61b (width 90 mm) was inserted. Because there was a difference in the width of these plates, 17 space forming support plates 61b were inserted in this experiment.
(2) At this point, the simulated mattress surface was raised by approximately 14 mm, which is equivalent to the thickness of the space-forming support plate 61b, but first, the head-side space-forming support plate 61b was removed from between the simulated mattress surface and the simulated mattress surface, and inserted between the pillow and the simulated mattress surface of the recumbent K. The insertion was carried out smoothly without any significant resistance.
(3) Next, the space forming support plate 61b was removed from between the simulated futon surface and the simulated mattress surface at the upper shoulder area, and the space forming support plate 61b was inserted between the recumbent K and the simulated futon (insertion space Sp) as the support plate 12. The same operation was repeated at the upper waist, lower waist, upper buttocks, upper thighs, lower knees, and ankles. There was no significant resistance when inserting from the upper shoulders to the ankles, and the insertion was carried out smoothly.
(4) This Example 18 confirmed that the simulated mattress surface of the flexible member 60 in the portion where the space-forming support plate 61b has been removed tends to sag slightly downward, and that by utilizing this sagging as an insertion space Sp, the space-forming support plate 61b can be easily inserted as the support plate 12 directly between the lying person K and the simulated mattress surface.
(5) After the steps (4) are completed, the arrangement of the space forming support plates 61b and support plate 12 above and below the flexible member 60 with the summer quilt folded in half inside the bag-type bed sheet is shown in Table 14.
(6) After that, the space forming support plate 61b was removed in order from the foot side to the head side, and the arrangement of the auxiliary support plate 13 immediately before being connected to the load supporting member 14 of Example 7 was formed. As in Example 7, when the load supporting member 14 is connected, a space S used for treatment including medical care, nursing, or caregiving can be formed between the lying person K and the lying surface 15a. The time required to reach this state was about five and a half minutes.
(7) This Example 18 confirmed that the simulated mattress surface of the flexible member 60 from which the space-forming support plate 61b was removed tends to sag slightly downward, and that by using this slack as the insertion space Sp, the support plate 12 can be more easily inserted between the recumbent K and the simulated mattress surface. In addition, the adult male experimenter playing the role of the recumbent K commented that, compared to the insertion method of the support plate 12 + auxiliary support plate 13 of Example 17, the insertion of the support plate 12 in this method did not feel any difference in the foreign body sensation during insertion, even when only the support plate 12 was inserted, probably because the pressure during insertion is reduced by the insertion space Sp.
(8) The number of plates moving from the underside of the futon (flexible member 60) to the upper side of the futon is not limited to eight as shown in this embodiment 18, and the number and location may be appropriately selected in consideration of the condition of the back of the bedridden person K (bedsores, injuries, etc.). In this embodiment 18, the space forming support plates 61b are laid almost completely under the flexible member 60, but they do not necessarily have to be laid completely to form the insertion space Sp, and they may be thinned out as appropriate.

Example 19

(1) An experiment was conducted using the same stretcher, simulated mattress surface, and simulated futon surface as in Example 18, and using cedar boards as the space-forming support plates 61b as in Example 18. Seventeen space-forming support plates 61b were inserted between the simulated mattress surface and the simulated futon surface from the head side of the recumbent K to the heels in a manner that almost completely covered the space.
(2) Next, a part of the space-forming support plate 61b inserted between the simulated mattress surface under the upper part of the shoulders and the simulated futon surface was removed. By removing the space-forming support plate 61b, the simulated futon (flexible member 60) slackened and an insertion space Sp was formed. This space Sp was then used to insert a commercially available suitcase belt 13 (an example of an insertion support member, a one-touch suitcase belt made by Smartip. The width is 5 cm and the length is about 2 m, which was adjusted to 190 cm with the attached hook, and the unevenness of the metal fittings was fitted together. A flat rectangular shape formed by folding a ring of about 95 cm. When the metal fittings are fitted, the tip of the buckle is chamfered and can be inserted between the bedsleeper K and the simulated futon surface).
(3) Similarly, the space-forming support plate 61b inserted between the simulated mattress surface and the simulated futon surface in the mid-waist area was removed. By removing the space-forming support plate 61b, the simulated futon (flexible member) slackened and an insertion space Sp was formed, and a commercially available suitcase bell was inserted using this space Sp.
(4) When two suitcase belts are inserted between the bedside person K and the simulated futon surface, the arrangement of the space-forming support plate 61b under the flexible member 60 made of a summer futon folded in half and placed in a bag-type bed sheet, and the suitcase belts as insertion support members on top of the space-forming support plate 61b is shown in Table 15.
(4) In this Example 19, by using the space forming support plate 61b and the flexible member 60 to form the insertion space Sp, it was confirmed that even a highly flexible insertion member (insertion support member) such as a suitcase belt can be easily inserted between the lying person K and the simulated futon surface.

〔実施例２０〕

Example 20

(1) The experiment was carried out using 16 commercially available suitcase belts similar to those used in Example 19, a commercially available stretcher (Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., Nursing Stretcher, NST-1, length 194 cm, width 54 cm), a stretcher ( PARAMONT BED KK-700-095D), a stretcher ( PARAMONT BED KA-881), a commercially available futon with a surface sheet sewn with thread (an example of a flexible material, 100 cm x 200 cm, thickness about 5 cm, about 3 cm when compressed), and a summer futon placed in a bag-type bed sheet (length 185 cm, width 120 cm, thickness about 2 cm).
(2) A commercially available futon (100 cm x 200 cm, approximately 5 cm thick, approximately 3 cm when compressed) with a commercially available sheet sewn on the surface was placed on a commercially available stretcher (Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., Nursing Stretcher, NST-1). The width of the stretcher NST-1 and the width of the futon placed on the stretcher are different, but this time it was not folded in half, and the part (100 cm of the futon) that protruded from the stretcher (width 54 cm) was made to hang down to the right side of the adult male experimenter playing the role of the recumbent K when he lay down, and used as a simulated mattress surface. A summer futon (185 cm long, 120 cm wide, approximately 2 cm thick) placed in a bag-type bed sheet was placed on top of the futon, folded in half lengthwise, and placed on top of it so that the "wa" was on the left side of the adult male experimenter playing the role of the recumbent K when he lay down, and used as a simulated futon surface for the experiment.
(3) The stretcher ( PARAMONT BED KA-881) and the stretcher ( PARAMONT BED KK-700-095D) have pipe-shaped metal fittings (an example of a load support member) on their sides along the length of the stretcher, and by utilizing these pipe-shaped metal fittings, the stretchers are placed parallel to each other in the longitudinal direction, approximately 60 cm apart, and a ring-shaped suitcase belt (an example of a space forming member and an insertion support member) is placed through each pipe (removable by using a metal fitting of the suitcase belt), and in this Example 20, the ring-shaped suitcase belt is used as the space forming member and the insertion member (insertion support member). Note that an experiment was conducted by placing a commercially available stretcher (Nursing Stretcher, NST-1, manufactured by Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd.) on which the bedridden person K sits between the two opposing stretchers.
(4) The height of the surface of a commercially available stretcher (Nursing Stretcher, NST-1, manufactured by Muranaka Medical Equipment Co., Ltd.) was adjusted to 86 cm, and a commercially available futon with a sheet sewn on the surface was placed on top of it, and a folded summer futon placed in a bag-type bed sheet was placed on top of that, and the adult male experimenter playing the role of patient K in Example 17 was placed on top of that, and the experiment was started with a folded bath towel (25 cm x 35 cm, 2-3 cm thick) placed behind the head as a pillow.
(5) The pipes of the stretcher to be placed on the left hand side of the recumbent patient K were passed through suitcase belts, the clasp was closed, and 16 ring-shaped suitcase belts were hung from them.
(6) As in Example 17, an adult male nurse/caregiver stood to the left of the experimenter playing the role of bedridden person K, and inserted the suitcase belts approximately evenly from the head to the foot between the simulated mattress surface and the simulated futon surface, although over the stretcher ( PARAMONT BED KA-881), and then moved to the right side of the bedridden person K and pulled out the ring-shaped suitcase belts that were fastened with the metal fittings between the simulated mattress surface and the simulated futon surface, until a total of 16 suitcase belts reached the right side of the bedridden person K.
(7) At this point, another stretcher ( PARAMONT BED KK-700-095D) was placed so as to be in contact with the right side of the bedridden person K, and the metal fittings of the pulled-out suitcase belt were once removed from the pipes that the stretcher had in the longitudinal direction, and then the metal fittings were refitted in a manner that surrounded the pipes, forming an arrangement from bottom to top of the following: a futon with a commercially available surface sheet sewn with thread, a ring-shaped suitcase belt hung by pipe-shaped metal fittings at both ends, a summer futon placed in a bag-type bed sheet, and the bedridden person K.
(8) Since the suitcase belts do not have a step like the space forming support plate 60b, the stretcher on which the lying person K is riding is lowered by 12 cm, and a hammock consisting of 16 suitcase belts forms a shape that supports the simulated futon surface and the lying person K.
(9) In Examples 17 and 18, the space forming support plate 60b and the space forming support auxiliary plate 61c were removed from between the simulated futon surface and the simulated mattress surface, and the space forming support plate 60b and the space forming support auxiliary plate 61c were inserted between the lying person K and the simulated futon surface as support plate 12 and support auxiliary plate 13, respectively. Similarly, the 16 suitcase belts supporting the simulated futon surface were moved one by one from the bottom to the top of the simulated futon surface, i.e., between the lying person K and the simulated futon (insertion space Sp). The movement was performed by first removing the clasp of the ring-shaped suitcase belt on the right side of the bedridden person K, releasing it from the pipe to which it was connected, then reconnecting the clasp to make a ring, and pulling it out to the left side of the bedridden person K, then passing it between the top of the simulated futon surface and the bedridden person K, bringing it to the right side of the bedridden person K again, removing the clasp at the pipe on the right side, encircling the pipe, and then reconnecting it, forming a ring-shaped suitcase belt with both ends supported by pipes between the bedridden person K and the simulated futon surface. The suitcase belt was moved from the bottom to the top of the simulated futon surface in the order of shoulders, upper chest, and head, and then from the mid-chest to the ankles. Initially, this was the order chosen out of concern that the head would sag, but even if the surface of the stretcher on which the bedridden person K was lying was lowered by 12 cm, the whole stretcher sagged downward like a hammock , so the head was always supported. In this experiment, even if one suitcase belt was removed, the remaining 15 belts were able to support the simulated futon surface with the bedridden person K on it, and no instability was observed in supporting the bedridden person.
(10) The layout of the suitcase belts after the 16 suitcase belts have been moved from the bottom to the top of the simulated futon surface is shown in Table 16. The time required to reach this state was about 15 minutes.
(11) After that, in order to confirm the formation of a space behind the lying person, the stretcher with the lying person on it was lowered another 6 cm (total 18 cm) and the simulated futon surface was removed from the head side of the lying person. The simulated futon surface could be removed without resistance, and after the simulated futon surface was removed, a space (insertion space Sp) was confirmed between the lying person and the simulated mattress surface.
(12) After that, the floor of the stretcher, on which the simulated mattress surface (a commercially available futon with a sheet sewn on the surface with thread) was exposed, was raised, and after confirming that the body weight had been transferred to the stretcher, all 16 suitcase belts connected to the pipe on the right side of the bedridden person K were removed, and after removing the connection from the pipe on the right side of the bedridden person K, the metal fittings were reconnected, and the ring-shaped suitcase belt was crushed into a rectangular shape. Then, the experimenter playing the role of a nurse/caregiver moved to the left side of the bedridden person and pulled out the suitcase belt, which had been crushed from a ring-shaped to a rectangular shape, by slowly pulling it from the left side. The metal fittings were chamfered, so the removal could be carried out without much resistance. The time required for this process (12) was about 3 minutes.
(13) The experimenter playing the role of patient K felt that when the belt was being removed, it was not particularly invasive and felt as if something was passing through the patient's back, and that simply saying, "I'm going to remove the belt," would have been sufficient.
(14) In this Example 20 and Example 19, it was confirmed that an insertion space Sp can be formed between the lying person K and the simulated futon surface by using a belt-like structure such as a suitcase belt and a flexible member 60 such as a simulated futon surface, and it was also confirmed that by utilizing this insertion space Sp, more flexible fiber materials such as suitcase belts or mesh materials can also be used as the space forming member and insertion member (insertion support member).

[Another embodiment]
(1) As explained above, the insertion member can be composed of the insertion auxiliary plate 11 (one example of an insertion support member), the support plate 12 (one example of an insertion support member), and the support auxiliary plate 13, but in the body lift system 100 according to the present application, each of the insertion auxiliary plate 11, the support plate 12, and the support auxiliary plate 13 may be provided in a plurality of plates in the direction of the bed surface (the direction along the arrow Y in Figs. 1 and 2). Also, each of the insertion auxiliary plate 11, the support plate 12, and the support auxiliary plate 13 may be provided in a form in which a plurality of plates are layered in the orthogonal direction perpendicular to the direction of the bed surface (the direction along the arrow Z in Figs. 1 and 2).

(2) In the above first and second embodiments, the lifting mechanism 15 is mainly a bed surface lifting device such as a stretcher that directly lifts and lowers the bed surface 15a.
However, the lifting mechanism 15 may be configured as a hoist or the like that supports the binding portion between the load support member 14, which supports both ends in the insertion direction of the insertion member (which may include the support plate 12, insertion auxiliary plate 11, and support auxiliary plate 13) inserted between the lying surface 15a and the lying person K, by suspending it via a string-like member such as a chain, and raises and lowers the load support member 14 by winding up or lowering the string-like member.

(3) In the first and second embodiments, the lying surface 15a is primarily the upper surface of a bed including a stretcher having the lifting mechanism 15 or the like.
However, the lying surface 15a includes at least one of the upper surface of an indoor floor, the upper surface of a bed or bedding laid on an indoor floor (excluding the second embodiment), and an outdoor road surface.

Specifically, the surface on which a bedridden person lies includes not only the futon and sheets on a bed, but also the futon laid out in a Japanese-style room, an operating table on which a patient who has been administered an anesthetic or muscle relaxant has been rendered bedridden for a short period of time lies, carpets, tatami mats, straw mats in households when a person falls, roads, road surfaces, and the ground on which injured people lie in the event of a disaster, and also X-ray and MRI tables on which pigs and sheep used in medical experiments have been administered an anesthetic or muscle relaxant and have been rendered bedridden for a short period of time, and any surface in a living space on which a person or animal is unable to move or can barely move and must lie down.

(4) The scope of the present application also includes a configuration in which the insertion tip corners and a portion of the insertion tip ridge lines of the insertion auxiliary plates 11, support plates 12, and support auxiliary plates 13 are chamfered.
More specifically, only one of the two insertion tip corners may be chamfered, or both may be chamfered. Also, when the insertion tip edge is chamfered, all of the insertion tip corners do not have to be chamfered.
As long as at least one of the six insertion tip edge portions is chamfered, all of them are within the scope of the present application. Also, if the insertion tip corner portion is chamfered, it does not matter if all of the insertion tip edge portions are not chamfered.

(5) The body holder 200 may be configured to include only the main material 54 and the heating and cooling device 55.

(6) In addition to the main material 54 and the heating/cooling device 55, the body holder 200 may also be configured to include any one of a cushioning material 51, a heat insulating material 52, and a soft bag-like container 53.

(7) In addition to the main material 54 and the heating/cooling device 55, the body holder 200 may be configured to include any two of the cushioning material 51, the insulating material 52, and the soft bag-like container 53.

(8) In the above first and second embodiments, the cushioning material 51 and the heat insulating material 52 are separate members. However, they may be formed from a single member.
In other words, instead of the cushioning material 51 and the insulating material 52, a configuration may be adopted that has a cushioning function to reduce invasiveness and floating instability to the area to be operated when it is grasped or covered and shaped according to the shape of the area to be operated, and an insulating function to suppress the conduction of hot heat associated with low-temperature heating and cold heat associated with cooling to the area to be operated when it is grasped or covered and shaped according to the shape of the area to be operated.

In other words, both the cushioning material 51 and the insulating material 52 can be made of cloth, terry cloth, or plastic foam, so depending on the material, they can be integrated into a cushioning and insulating material that combines the properties of the cushioning material 51 and the insulating material 52. However, these examples do not limit the materials that can be used for the cushioning and insulating material.

(9) It is preferable that the body holder 200 is used in one of the following: a body position fixing device, a body position changing device, a mobility aid, a backrest, a footboard, a body pressure dispersion cushion, and a bed with a hard/soft adjustable base.

(10) The body holder 200 of the present application can be used for purposes other than medical, nursing, or care procedures involving support, fixation, grasping, covering, or movement, and can also be used, for example, as a backrest or body pressure dispersion cushion for able-bodied individuals.

The configurations disclosed in the above embodiment (including other embodiments, the same applies below) can be applied in combination with configurations disclosed in other embodiments, provided no contradictions arise. Furthermore, the embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. Appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The present invention can be incorporated into beds for bedridden people and transport devices for injured people in disasters, so that bedridden person K or injured people in disasters can put on and take off clothes and move to a wheelchair or stretcher with the help of a nurse or caregiver, or in cooperation with a nurse or caregiver. In addition, by linking with a wheelchair, it becomes possible to move to the toilet, relieve oneself, and take a bath. In addition, if care is required in bed, changing sheets, removing wrinkles from sheets, changing body position, wiping, and assisting with excretion can be carried out more safely and comfortably by using the free space created by the body lift system 100. In addition, caregivers and rescuers are also freed from the weight of bedridden person K or the disaster victim, which also contributes to preventing back pain.

11: Insertion auxiliary plate 12: Support plate 12a, 12d: Insertion tip corner portion 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e, 12f: Insertion tip ridge portion 13: Support auxiliary plate 14: Load support member 14a: Load support portion 15: Lifting mechanism 15a: Bed surface 24: Support (partial lifting portion)
51: Cushioning material 52: Heat insulating material 53: Bag-like container 54: Main material 100: Body lift system 200: Body holder K: Bedridden person

Claims (12)

A body lift system for use in a procedure including medical care, nursing care, or caregiving, the body lift system having an insertion member that is inserted between a bedside person and a bed surface, the insertion member comprising:
A flexible member is provided that can be interposed between the person and the bed surface,
the flexible member has flexibility to form an insertion space between the plurality of space-forming members and between the lying person and the flexible member when a plurality of elongated space-forming members having a predetermined thickness are inserted between the flexible member and the lying surface at intervals in a direction along the lying surface, while being interposed between the lying person and the lying surface;
The space forming member is provided separately from the bed surface,
The insertion member is a flat rectangular insertion support member having at least a portion of flexibility,
The insertion support member has one or both of an insertion tip corner portion and an insertion tip ridge portion of an insertion tip portion in an insertion direction between the lying person and the lying surface chamfered,
a load support member for supporting the insertion support member in an inserted state into the insertion space,
A body lift system comprising a lifting mechanism for separating the insertion support member supported by the load support member and in the inserted state from the bed surface, and by operating the lifting mechanism, a space is formed between the lying person and the bed surface for performing treatments including medical care, nursing, or care. 10. The body lift system of claim 1 , wherein the insert member is made of at least one of plastic, wood, or metal. 3. The body lift system according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the insert member is a flat rectangular plate having a thickness of 0.5 mm to 50 mm, a width of 5 mm to 1200 mm, and a length of 200 mm to 3000 mm. The body lift system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lying surface includes at least one of the top surface of a bed, the top surface of an indoor floor, the top surface of bedding laid on the bed or the indoor floor, and an outdoor road surface. 5. The body lift system according to claim 1 , wherein the load-bearing member is made of plastic, wood, metal, concrete, plastering material for interior walls, or a composite material thereof. 6. The body lift system according to claim 1 , wherein the lifting mechanism is a bed surface lifting mechanism that directly lifts and lowers the bed surface. The body lift system according to claim 6 , wherein the bed surface lifting mechanism includes a partial lifting section that partially lifts and lowers a portion of the bed surface. The body lift system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the insertion support member has an insertion auxiliary plate that is inserted into the insertion space, and a support plate that is guided by the insertion auxiliary plate and inserted below the insertion auxiliary plate in the insertion space when the insertion auxiliary plate is in the inserted state . A body lift system for use in a treatment including medical care, nursing care, or caregiving, the body lift system having an insertion member that is inserted between a bedside person and a bed surface, the insertion member comprising:
A flexible member is provided that can be interposed between the person and the bed surface,
the flexible member has flexibility to form an insertion space between the plurality of space-forming members and between the lying person and the flexible member when a plurality of elongated space-forming members having a predetermined thickness are inserted between the flexible member and the lying surface at intervals in a direction along the lying surface, while being interposed between the lying person and the lying surface;
The insertion member is a flat rectangular insertion support member having at least a portion of flexibility,
The insertion support member has one or both of an insertion tip corner portion and an insertion tip ridge portion of an insertion tip portion in an insertion direction between the lying person and the lying surface chamfered,
a load support member for supporting the insertion support member in an inserted state into the insertion space,
a lifting mechanism for separating the insertion support member supported by the load support member and in the inserted state from the bed surface, and by operating the lifting mechanism, a space is formed between the bed surface and the person lying down, for performing treatment including medical care, nursing care, or care;
A body lift system , wherein the load support member has a pair of load support portions that support both ends of the insertion member in the insertion direction when the insertion member is in the inserted state . A body lift system for use in a treatment including medical care, nursing care, or caregiving, the body lift system having an insertion member that is inserted between a bedside person and a bed surface, the insertion member comprising:
A flexible member is provided that can be interposed between the person and the bed surface,
the flexible member has flexibility to form an insertion space between the plurality of space-forming members and between the lying person and the flexible member when a plurality of elongated space-forming members having a predetermined thickness are inserted between the flexible member and the lying surface at intervals in a direction along the lying surface, while being interposed between the lying person and the lying surface;
The insertion member is a flat rectangular insertion support member having at least a portion of flexibility,
The insertion support member has one or both of an insertion tip corner portion and an insertion tip ridge portion of an insertion tip portion in an insertion direction between the lying person and the lying surface chamfered,
a load support member for supporting the insertion support member in an inserted state into the insertion space,
a lifting mechanism for separating the insertion support member supported by the load support member and in the inserted state from the bed surface, and by operating the lifting mechanism, a space is formed between the bed surface and the person lying down, for performing treatment including medical care, nursing care, or care;
A body lift system in which the insertion support member has an insertion auxiliary plate that is inserted into the insertion space, and a support plate that is inserted below the insertion auxiliary plate in the insertion space and guided by the insertion auxiliary plate when the insertion auxiliary plate is in the inserted state . A body lift method using the body lift system according to claim 1, comprising: executing a space forming step of forming a space for performing treatment, including medical treatment, nursing care, or caregiving, between the bedside person and the bed surface by operating the lifting mechanism,
The device has a softening temperature or melting point as a hardness/softening change threshold temperature, or a glass transition temperature in the case of a polymeric material that is difficult to crystallize, in the range of 5°C to 48°C inclusive, as a main material whose hardness changes, and can be used when performing treatment, including medical treatment, nursing care, or caregiving, involving support, fixation, grasping, covering, or movement, on the operation target site, which is the whole or a part of the person,
When the main material is heated to a low temperature, the temperature of the part of the main material that comes into contact with the operation target portion is set to 46° C. or lower in the case of a human being, and the temperature of the main material when softening the main material is set to a temperature equal to or higher than the hardness/softening change threshold temperature,
The main material is in contact with the operation target portion with at least one of a cushioning material, a heat insulating material, and a soft bag-like container interposed therebetween,
When the main material is cooled and hardened, the cooling temperature of the main material is lower than the hardness/softening change threshold temperature,
A body lifting method in which a body holder having the main material is used in combination,
A body lifting method in which, after the space forming process, the body holder is inserted directly under the body of the lying person, the lifting mechanism is used to raise and lower the lying surface to the position it was in before the space forming process, the insertion support member is brought into contact with the body holder inserted on the lying surface, the load is transferred to the body holder and the lying surface supporting the body holder, the insertion support member is then removed, the body holder grasps or covers the part to be operated, and the body holder is shaped according to the shape of the part to be operated. In the space forming step, a medical device is fixed to or integrally installed on either the load support member or the lifting mechanism, and the medical device is raised and lowered while maintaining a positional relationship between the patient and the medical device in a lifting direction, or
The body lift method according to claim 11, further comprising the steps of: removing or putting on the clothes and underwear of the bedridden person; inserting a weighing scale used to monitor the health condition of the bedridden person; changing the diaper of the bedridden person; inserting a bedside toilet into the space; inserting a genital washing device into the space; and transferring the bedridden person to a wheelchair , after the space forming step.

Images