SE542088C2

SE542088C2 - Shower chair

Info

Publication number: SE542088C2
Application number: SE1700018A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Louise Axzell
Original assignee: Louise Axzell
Priority date: 2017-02-01
Filing date: 2017-02-01
Publication date: 2020-02-25
Also published as: SE1700018A1; WO2018143878A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a shower chair comprising leg portions (1), a seat (2), a back rest (3), and armrests (4), characterised in that at least one leg portion and the back rest, or at least one leg portion and at least one armrest, comprise or are connected to shower heads (10) that are via internal piping (5) or tubing (6) in the chair connectable to a central water source (7). Moreover, the invention relates to a shower head assembly suitable for attaching to a conventional shower or toilet chair having leg portion(s)(1), a seat (2), a back rest (3), and armrests (4), characterized in that the shower head assembly comprises external shower heads (21) which are via external piping (22) connectable to an external central water source (7).

Description

Shower chair Field of Invention The invention relates to the field of shower chairs, and in particular to the field of shower chairs providing an efficient and pleasant shower experience.

Background Conventional shower chairs are described in e.g. US patents 3,512,187 and 3,730,590. Said patents describe chairs for conveying a patient, and for supporting said patient while being showered and dried. Essentially, said shower chairs are in their component parts very similar to regular chairs.

Commonly, when giving an elderly, disabled and/or hospitalized patient a shower, the person to be showered is placed on a conventional shower chair, and a conventional shower head is used to shower the person, by a caretaker or nurse. As experienced by all people, you easily feel cold when using a single mobile shower head, not being able to shower the entire body at one and the same time. Water may also splash up in the face, all leading to an unpleasant shower experience. A stressful working situation for the caretaker or nurse may contribute to this situation.

It has been shown that what should be a pleasant experience for e.g. hospitalized people, the regular shower, is commonly experienced as unpleasant. Hence, there is a need for a shower chair facilitating a more pleasant shower experience. Moreover, there is also a need for a shower chair reducing the time needed for e.g. hospital personnel seeing to and washing their patients, in view of work efficiency and a growing number of hospitalized people to be taken care of.

Brief Description of the Figures Figure 1A depicts a perspective view of an embodiment of the shower chair.

Figure 1B depicts a detail schematic view of e.g. a faucet according to the invention.

Figure 2A depicts a perspective view of an embodiment of the shower chair.

Figure 2B depicts a detail of a back rest with longitudinal shower heads.

Figure 3 depicts a front view of the shower chair with an additional external shower head.

Figure 4 depicts a shower head with an extension element, to be connected to a conventional shower chair.

Figure 5 depicts a perspective view of an embodiment of the shower head assembly.

Figure 6 depicts a perspective view of an embodiment of the shower chair with position adjustable shower heads.

Figure 7 depicts a side view of an embodiment of the shower chair, with water flowing through the piping making up the chair's structural elements.

Figure 8 depicts a side view of an embodiment of the shower chair, with water flowing through tubing provided within the piping making up the chair's structural elements.

Detailed Description of the Invention The shower chair according to the invention comprises, as structural parts, leg portions (1), a seat (2), a back rest (3), and armrests (4), such as is described in e.g. Figure 1A and Figure 6. The shower chair is preferably made of conventional materials, i.e. leg portions, seat and back rest may be made of metal. As an alternative to metal structural parts, the shower chair may in part or entirely be made up of a polymeric material. The individual parts of the shower chair may be joined together by welding, screwing or other conventional means of joining together individual parts. Depending on its design, the shower chair may also be manufactured as one piece. One piece manufacture would be easier to achieve if the shower chair is manufactured out of a polymeric material.

Irrespective of material of the shower chair's structural parts, and in particular if the chair is made of metal, external parts close to the person using the shower chair are preferably made of a state of the art polymeric material which is softer and does not lead heat on the level that metal does. The polymeric material may moreover be coated with a non-slip surface, or in its entirety constitute such material. The person skilled in the art is well equipped to choose the right polymer or polymer blend to achieve the effects described herein.

In accordance with the invention, at least one leg portion and the back rest, or at least one leg portion and at least one armrest, comprise or are connected to shower heads (10). Shower heads (10) may be placed on extension elements (23). Extension element(s) are, when present, joined to the respective structural part(s) of the shower chair. Shower heads comprised in the shower chair may be shower heads integrated in the structural parts of the shower chair.

The shower chair is via internal piping (5) or tubing (6) in the chair connectable to a central water source (7) (see Figures 7 and 8). Internal piping has the advantage of using fewer parts, but necessitates closed joints. If on the other hand internal tubing is used instead, joints between individual parts of the chair may simply be screwed together. Tubing may also reduce bacterial growth, and reduce rusting inside metal structural parts.

The back rest of the chair may have curvatures (8) on its right and left sides, respectively, to enclose a person sitting on the chair. By way of these curvatures, shower head(s) located on the respective side(s) of the back rest (see Figure 1A) may be used to enable showering the person from the side. Shower heads may also be located in the back rest right behind the person sitting in the chair. In using such a chair, it may be advantageous not to lean against the back rest.

Also the leg portions (1) may have curvatures, for the leg parts to enclose the legs of a person sitting in the chair. This would facilitate showering the legs (see Figures 1A & 2B).

Extension elements may be made use of, for connecting at least one shower head (10) to the shower chair. Thereby, a suitable distance between the shower head and the person sitting in the shower chair may be obtained.

The shower chair preferably has armrests (4), which armrests may, as in Fig. 6, be a connecting point for shower heads (10) or extension elements (23). The armrests may be an integral part of the back rest (3) (see Figs. 1A and 3).

The shower chair may, as described in Fig. 1A, comprise an additional water outlet (11) for spraying the legs of the person sitting in the shower chair from behind, said water outlet being provided with at least one shower head (10).

According to one embodiment, the shower heads are longitudinal (see Fig. 2A). As shown in Fig. 2B, water may spray out through a row of perforations (12), each row of perforations making up an individual shower head.

The shower heads may be position adjustable. Shower heads integrated in the structural parts of the shower chair may be position adjustable by way of rotation, whereas shower heads (10, 21) located on extension elements (23) may be position adjustable through rotation around the respective axes, or pushing the extension element back and forth through its chair fastening means (see Figures 5 & 6). All, none or only some of the shower heads may be position adjustable.

Preferably, the shower chair is provided with a faucet 13, through which water from the central water source (7) flows. Thereby, the person sitting on the shower chair may himself adjust the water flow through the shower heads, as well as turning on and turning off the water flow. Said location of the faucet also facilitates helping the person taking a shower, by e.g. a nurse.

It is believed that in most instances, the shower chair will usually be connected to an external hot and cold water faucet, which faucet will be used for adjusting the water temperature. As an alternative, water heating means may be provided in connection with the shower chair.

The shower chair may additionally be provided with an external, conventional shower head (15), connected to the internal piping (5) or tubing (6). This external, conventional shower head (15) is provided with its own piping (14), and may be provided with a dead man's switch (16). The shower chair may be provided with a holder (17) for said external shower head.

The shower chair is provided with a fan (18) to produce an air flow through shower head(s) (10). The fan facilitates drying the person having had a shower, and moreover dries out the system, reducing the risk for e.g. legionella growth. The fan should be a heat generating fan, e.g. a fan provided with electric heating elements for heating the incoming air.

The fan may be provided in a unit comprising the faucet (13). When it is contemplated to use the same shower heads for both water and air, respectively, the faucet (13) is in one embodiment provided with a switch (19) to choose between flow of water or air. There is also an on/off switch (24) for the fan. When separate shower heads are used for water and air, respectively, the switch (19) may be dispensed with. The person skilled in the art realizes that the switch (19) is not necessary, even when the same shower heads are used for water and air, respectively. The same results may be achieved by operating the faucet (13) and fan switch (24) separately, using separate streams of water and air, respectively.

An alternative embodiment of the invention relates to a shower head assembly suitable for attaching to a conventional shower or toilet chair having leg portion(s)(1), a seat (2), a back rest (3), and armrests (4). Said shower head assembly (see Figure 5) comprises external shower heads (21) which are via external piping (22) connectable to an external central water source (7). Extension elements (23) are preferably made use of.

In one specific shower head assembly, at least one shower head (21) is to be connected to an armrest (4), and at least one shower head (21) is to be connected to a leg portion (1), optionally via extension element(s) (23). Shower heads or extension elements are connected to the chair through conventional fastening means (see Figures 4 & 5). The fastening means may be clip-on fastening means (see Figure 4).

It should be realized that the embodiments described herein are merely examples of the invention, and should not be seen as limiting the scope of the invention in any way whatsoever.

Claims

Patent claims

1. Shower chair comprising leg portions (1), a seat (2), a back rest (3), and armrests (4), characterised in that at least one leg portion and the back rest, or at least one leg portion and at least one armrest, comprise or are connected to shower heads (10) that are via internal piping (5) or tubing (6) in the chair connectable to a central water source (7), and that the shower chair comprises a fan (18) to produce an air flow through shower head(s) (10), to dry the person previously having had a shower.

2. Shower chair according to claim 1, characterized in that the back rest of the chair has curvatures (8) on its right and left sides, respectively, to enclose a person sitting on the chair.

3. Shower chair according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the leg portions (1) have curvatures for the leg parts to enclose the legs of a person sitting in the chair.

4. Shower chair according to any of claims 1 - 3, characterised in that at least one shower head (10) is connected to the shower chair through an extension element (23).

5. Shower chair according to any of claims 1 - 4, characterized in that the armrests (4) are an integral part of the back rest (3).

6. Shower chair according to any of claims 1 - 5, characterized in that the chair comprises an additional water outlet (11) for spraying the legs of the person sitting in the shower chair from behind, said water outlet being provided with at least one shower head (10).

7. Shower chair according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that each individual shower head (10) constitutes a row of perforations (12).

8. Shower chair according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that some or all of the shower heads (10) are position adjustable.

9. Shower chair according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shower chair is connected to the central water source (7) through a faucet (13) provided on the chair or in the vicinity of the chair.

10. Shower chair according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the internal piping (5) or tubing (6) is through tubing (14) connected to an external, conventional shower head (15), optionally provided with a dead man's switch (16), and that the shower chair has a holder (17) for said external shower head.

11. Shower chair according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the faucet (13) is provided with a switch (19) to choose between flow of water or air.

12. Shower head assembly suitable for attaching to a conventional shower or toilet chair having leg portion(s)(l), a seat (2), a back rest (3), and armrests (4), characterized in that the shower head assembly comprises external shower heads (21) which are via external piping (22) connectable to an external central water source (7), and a fan (18) to produce an air flow through shower head(s) (21), to dry the person previously having had a shower.

13. Shower head assembly according to claim 12, wherein at least one shower head (21) is to be connected to an armrest (4), and at least one shower head (21) is to be connected to a leg portion (1), optionally via extension element(s) (23).