JPH10263042A - Bathing assisting device and method using therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bathing assisting device which is lightweight and easy to handle and does not require any special power source and a method for using the same. SOLUTION: This bathing assisting device 1 comprises an L-shaped support frame 3 secured to the interior wall of a bathtub 2 by a suction cup 4 and a seat part 6 mounted in such a way as to be movable in the vertical direction of the support frame 3, and a float 9 which enables the seat part 6 to float up when the bathtub 2 is filled with water is attached to the seat part 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bathing assistance device suitable for use in bathing assistance for the elderly and the physically handicapped.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional bath assisting device is disclosed in
No. 970. This bathing assistance device,
An L-shaped support frame fixed to the inner wall of the bathtub by a suction cup,
An elevating member movably attached to a vertical portion of the support frame, a seating portion attached to the elevating member and moving integrally, a drive mechanism for elevating and lowering the seating portion attached to the elevating member, And an operating member for driving the driving mechanism. The drive mechanism is a pulley drive mechanism, a combination of a pulley drive mechanism and an electric mechanism, or a mechanism using water pressure, hydraulic pressure, other air pressure, or the like.

[0003]

However, in the above conventional bathing assistance device, when the drive mechanism is a pulley drive mechanism or a combination of a pulley drive mechanism and an electric mechanism, the bathing assistance is provided by a pulley or an electric motor used for the drive mechanism. The weight of the device increases, which makes it inconvenient to set and remove it from the bathtub. In the case where the driving mechanism uses water pressure, hydraulic pressure, other air pressure, or the like, it is necessary to additionally provide a pressure generating device, so that there is a problem that the device becomes large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is a lightweight and easy-to-handle bathing assistance device which does not require a special power source. The purpose is to provide usage.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
An L-shaped support frame fixed to the inner wall of the bathtub by a suction cup,
A bathing assistance device comprising a seating portion movably mounted in the vertical direction of the support frame, wherein a float body capable of floating the seating portion when the bathtub is filled with water is attached to the seating portion. It is characterized by being.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the float body may be a closed hollow body made of a flexible material such as a balloon, a closed hollow container body made of a hard material, a closed-cell foam or a sponge body, or the like. Any of them may be used. Alternatively, the float body may be a bowl-shaped container that is installed with its opening side facing down. When air is sent from the opening side of the float body, the float body can be floated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the bathing care device according to the first aspect, the float body is a hollow body, and air supply means for sending air to the float body;
The air vent opening / closing valve of the float body is attached.

[0008] In the second aspect of the present invention, the float body may be a bowl-shaped container with its shape turned down, but it is preferable that the float body is a flexible closed hollow body. Examples of the flexible closed hollow body include those formed of a flexible material (a soft synthetic resin film, a synthetic rubber sheet, or the like), and those made flexible by a bellows shape or the like.

The air supply means is constituted by a manual or electric pump, a compressed air cylinder or the like, and a pipe connecting these.

[0010] In the first or second aspect of the present invention, it is preferable to extend a folding auxiliary seat on both sides of the seat. When the seating portion is raised and the auxiliary seating portion is set at substantially the same height as the upper surface of the bathtub frame, it is easy to transfer from the transfer stand outside the bathtub to the seating portion via the auxiliary seating portion.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bathing assistance device comprising an L-shaped support frame fixed to an inner wall of a bathtub by a suction cup, and a seating portion movably mounted in a vertical direction of the support frame. A method of use, in which a float body made of a hollow body is attached to the seating part, this bathing assistance device is installed in a bathtub, a support frame is fixed to an inner wall of the bathtub with a suction cup, and when a bather takes a bath, Fill the inside with hot water, send air to the float body, raise the seating part with the float body attached to almost the same height as the frame of the bathtub, and after the bather sits on this seating part, remove the air of the float body. Pull out and lower the seating part into the bathtub with the bather's weight, and when the bather leaves the bathtub, send air again to the float body, and make the seating part with the float body attached to almost the same height as the frame of the bathtub. To raise And butterflies.

In the third aspect of the present invention, when the float of the float body is evacuated and the seat is lowered, an on-off valve with a speed controller for adjusting the speed at which the air escapes may be attached. Then, the seating part descends slowly, which is safe.

(Function) The bathing assistance device according to claim 1 is
When the bathtub is filled with water, the float that allows the seating portion to float is attached to the seating portion, so that a heavy weight such as a pulley or an electric motor, such as a conventional bathing assistance device, is used. Since it is driven without using it, the weight is reduced and the handling becomes easy.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bathing care device wherein the float body is a hollow body, and air supply means for sending air to the float body and an on-off valve for bleeding the float body are attached. Because there is, when the air is supplied to the float body by the air supply means, the seating part rises, and when the air of the float body is opened by opening the air vent valve and the air of the float body is evacuated, the seating part descends with the weight of the bather sitting on the seating part, Assist in getting in and out of the bathtub.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the bather enters the bathtub, the bathtub is filled with hot water, air is blown into the float body, and the seat to which the float body is attached is attached to the bathtub frame. Rise to almost the same height as
After the bather sits on the seat, the air in the float body is evacuated and the seat is lowered into the bathtub with the weight of the bather.When the bather comes out of the bathtub, the air is sent again to the float body and the float body is released. The seat to which is attached is raised to almost the same height as the frame of the bathtub. Therefore, even if the elderly person or the body has a disability, the seating part can be raised and lowered by himself, so that entering and leaving the bathtub becomes easy. In addition, when the caregiver takes a bath, the burden on the caregiver can be reduced.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5
1 is a perspective view of a bathing assistance device installed in a bathtub, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bathing assistance device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a line AA of FIG. , FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a method of using the bathing assistance device of FIG.

In the drawing, 1 is a bathing assistance device,
The bathing assistance device 1 includes a suction cup 4 on the inner wall (bottom wall) of the bathtub 2.
And an L-shaped support frame 3 fixed by the support frame 3, and a seating portion 6 attached to the support frame 3 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The bathing assistance device 1 is installed in the bathtub 2, and when the bathtub 2 is filled with water, the float body 9 that allows the seating portion 6 to float can be moved via the lifting member 8.
Attached to.

The support frame 3 includes a base frame 3a,
Two vertical guide frames 3b, 3c standing upright from the base frame 3a;
b, 3c, and an upper side frame 3d bridged over the upper part between the base frame 3a and the vertical guide frame 3b (or 3c).

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the elevating member 5 is formed of a block-shaped plate, and the supporting frame 3 is provided on both sides.
Vertical guide frames 3b and 3c are inserted into the support frame 3
The rear side of the seat 6 is attached to the elevating member 5.

The float body 9 is a closed hollow body made of a flexible sheet material such as synthetic resin or synthetic rubber, and its outer shape is substantially cubic. This float body 9 is installed below the seating portion 6 and the elevating member 5,
It is fixed to the lower end of the lifting member. In addition, the float body 9
Is provided with a bellows-shaped partition 91, and the vertical guide frames 3b and 3c pass through the partition 91.

13a and 13b are upper limit stoppers, and 12 is a lower limit stopper. Upper limit stopper 13
a and 13b are vertical guide frames 3b and 3b, respectively.
c, and is provided to regulate the upper limit position of the lifting member 8. This upper limit stopper 13
The mounting positions of a and 13b are set to be substantially the same height as the upper surface of the frame of the bathtub 2 when the seating portion 6 floats.

The lower limit stopper 12 is attached to the base frame 3a, and when the elevating member 8 is lowered,
The lower limit stopper 12 regulates the lower limit position of the lifting member 8.

A hand pump 10 for feeding compressed air to the float body 9, a float body 9 and a pump 1
A pipe 11 (air tube) for connecting the air outlet 0 to the air outlet 1 and an air vent opening / closing valve (not shown) of the float body 9 are attached.

The hand pump 10 is installed on one of the left and right sides of the bather sitting on the seating section 6. The air vent opening / closing valve is a three-way valve with an open port. The open port is opened when the air of the float body 9 is evacuated, and the open port is closed when the air is sent into the float body 9. The operation is done manually.

A seat 6 is attached to the support frame 3 via an elevating member 8. On both sides of the seat 6, auxiliary seats 7, 7 which are foldable are extended. I have. The auxiliary seating portion 7 is attached to the seating portion 6 with a hinge or the like. When the auxiliary seating portion 7 is spread, it is substantially flush with the seating portion 6, and is folded when the seating portion is lowered into the bathtub.

Next, the method of use and operation of the bathing assistance device 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, a bathing assistance device 1 having a float body 9 and a hand pump 10 is put in a normal bathtub 2, and a support frame 3 is fixed to a bottom wall of the bathtub 2 by a suction cup 4. .

When a bather enters the bathtub 2 and takes a bath, the bathtub 2 is filled with hot water and the float body 9 is pumped with a pump 10.
Then, the air is blown up to inflate the seating portion 6 to which the float body 9 is attached and the auxiliary seating portions 7 extending on both sides thereof are raised to almost the same height as the frame of the bathtub 2.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
After the bather sits on the seating section 6 via the above, the float body 9 is deflated by evacuating the air from the float body 9 and the seating section 6 is lowered into the bathtub 2 with the weight of the bather.

On the other hand, when the bather leaves the bathtub 2,
Air is again pumped into the float body 9 by the pump 10 to inflate the float body 9, and the seat 6 to which the float body 9 is attached is removed from the bathtub 2.
And moves up from the seating portion 6 to the auxiliary seating portion 7 and goes out of the bathtub 2 in the same manner as when entering the bathtub 2.

The auxiliary seating portion 7 assists the transfer of the bathing assistance device 1 to the seating portion 6 of the bathing assistance device 1 from a movable table or the like provided outside the bathtub 2 and also functions as an armrest during bathing.

The bathing assistance device 1 of the present embodiment has a float body 9 that allows the seating portion 6 to float when the bathtub 2 is filled with water.
Is attached to the seating portion 6,
Since it is driven without using a heavy object such as a pulley or an electric motor like a conventional bathing assistance device, the weight is reduced and the handling becomes easy.

The bathing and nursing care device 1 of this embodiment and a method of using the same are provided with a pump 10 for sending compressed air to the float body 9. Rises and the float body 9
When the air of the bather is deflated, the seating part 6 descends with the weight of the bather sitting on the seating part 6 and assists in getting in and out of the bathtub 2, so that elderly people and bathers with physical disabilities can get in and out of the bathtub 2. It is safe and easy.

[0034]

The bathing assistance device according to the first aspect of the present invention is a conventional bathing assistance device in which a float that allows the seating portion to float when the bathtub is filled with water is attached to the seating portion. The device can be driven without using a heavy object such as a pulley or an electric motor like a device, so that the weight is reduced and the handling is easy.

A bathing care device according to claim 2 and claim 3
The method of using the bathing assistance device described above is as follows: when air is supplied to the float body by the air supply means, the seating portion rises, and when the air of the float body is opened by opening the air release valve and the air of the float body is evacuated, the weight of the bather sitting on the seating portion is increased. As a result, the seating part descends and assists in getting in and out of the bathtub, so that it is easy to take a safe and self-bathing in the case of an elderly person or a person with a physical disability. In addition, when the caregiver takes a bath, the burden on the caregiver can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bathing assistance device installed in a bathtub according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bathing assistance device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a method of using the bathing assistance device of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bathing assistance device 2 Bathtub 3 Support frame 4 Sucker 6 Seating part 7 Auxiliary seating part 8 Elevating member 9 Float body 10 Hand pump 11 Piping

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A bathing assistance device comprising an L-shaped support frame fixed to an inner wall of a bath tub by a suction cup, and a seating portion movably mounted in a vertical direction of the support frame. A bathing assisting device, wherein a float that allows the seating portion to float when stretched is attached to the seating portion. 2. The float body according to claim 1, wherein the float body is a hollow body, and air supply means for sending air to the float body and an on-off valve for venting the float body are attached. Bathing assistance device. 3. A method of using a bathing assistance device comprising an L-shaped support frame fixed to an inner wall of a bathtub by a suction cup, and a seating portion movably mounted in a vertical direction of the support frame, Attach a float body made of a hollow body to the seating part, install this bathing assistance device in a bathtub, fix the support frame to the inner wall of the bathtub with a suction cup, and when the bather takes a bath, fill the bathtub with hot water, Air is sent into the float body, the seat with the float body attached is raised to almost the same height as the frame of the bathtub, and after the bather sits on this seat, the air in the float body is released and the seat is bathed. When the bather gets out of the bathtub, the air is sent back to the float body, and the seat with the float body attached is raised to almost the same height as the frame of the bathtub. Bathing assistance How to use the device.