US20130284222A1

US20130284222A1 - Auxiliary device for disabled personnel to get off bed

Info

Publication number: US20130284222A1
Application number: US13/523,380
Authority: US
Inventors: Chih-Wei Lu; Yan-Ling Wu
Original assignee: Chung Yuan Christian University
Current assignee: Chung Yuan Christian University
Priority date: 2012-04-25
Filing date: 2012-06-14
Publication date: 2013-10-31
Also published as: TWM435924U

Abstract

An auxiliary device for helping disabled person to get off bed has a handle, a telescopic rod extended directly from a bottom of the handle and a foot support pivotally connected to a distal end of the telescopic rod.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from application No. 101207706, filed on Apr. 25, 2012 in the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an auxiliary device, and more particularly, to an auxiliary device for disabled personnel, especially those who suffer from Hemiplegia, to get off bed easily.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hemiplegia, according to definition, is a person who lost control of half of his/her body, including one side of the face, limb, trunk or even only a small part of the body. The primary reason causing hemiplegia is middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) or damage. Sometimes, brain tumors may be the reason responsible for paralysis of half of one's body. Paralysis of half of one's body means the control of arm and leg of the same side is simultaneously lost, which mainly results from a stroke, damage in the brain or Cerebral Palsy (CP).
In addition to that, senior citizens are most vulnerable to all kinds of diseases as their daily activities reduce dramatically. Some may easily expose themselves to the risk of having a stroke or the like and end up with paralysis of half of their bodies. According to the census conducted by governmental institutions, the population of senior citizen, aged above 65, in 1993 in Taiwan is over 7% of the total population. This index shows that Taiwan is moving toward an aged society. As a result, senior citizen nursing becomes a big issue to the society. Rooted in the minds of Chinese for thousands of years, raising the kids to ensure that the kids will return parents' care when the parents become aged in the future is now facing a great challenge because people's concept and idea toward this old tradition are changing. And the aged people gradually knew they are only the ones they can count on, financially and physically.
According to a study conducted last year, the population of senior citizens who live alone doubles in the last 15 years, from 1,190,00 to 3,000,00. Financially, 47% senior citizens, live on the support from their children, and the rest live on their own pensions or savings. From the statistics, it is learned that senior citizen nursing will have a great impact to the society and to the nation as well.
Observing the obvious trend, the inventor of the present invention produces an auxiliary device for paralyzed personnel, especially those who lost control of their lower limbs to help them to move out of the bed all by themselves.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary device for disabled personnel to assist them to get off the bed all by themselves with ease.
To accomplish the objective of the present invention, it is noted that the auxiliary device has a handle, a telescopic rod and a foot support. The handle is designed for holding by a user and the telescopic rod is extended directly from the bottom of the handle. The foot support is pivotally and rotatably connected to a free distal end of the telescopic rod to support the user's foot.
One objective of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is that the handle has a sleeve extending downward for receiving therein a distal end of the telescopic rod.
Still another objective of the present preferred embodiment is that the foot support has a ledge movably extending outward from a face of the foot support for limiting movement of the user's foot.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the auxiliary device constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side plan view showing the application of the foot support of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing that the handle is movable relative to the telescopic rod and the foot support is able to detachably connect to the body of the telescopic rod;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing how the handle is connected to the telescopic rod;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the application of the auxiliary device of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is still another schematic view showing the application of the auxiliary device of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing that the user is off the bed with the assistance of the auxiliary device of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In order to describe details of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, description of the structure, and the application as well as the steps are made with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is learned that after the description, any variation, modification or the like to the structure and the steps of the embodiments of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is easily made available to any person skilled in the art. Thus, the following description is only for illustrative purpose only and does not, in any way, try to limit the scope of the present invention.
With reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is noted that the auxiliary device 1 is constructed in accordance with the present invention has a handle 2, a telescopic rod 3 and a foot support 4.
The handle 2 is designed for holding by a user and not limited in types or structure. For easy holding, the handle 2 is thus provided with a series of recesses 23 defined in a side face thereof such that the user's fingers are able to be received in the corresponding recesses 23. A sleeve 21 is integrally formed and extended downward from a bottom of the handle 2. A T shaped track 22 is defined through an outer periphery of the sleeve 21.
The telescopic rod 3 is extended directly from the bottom of the handle 2 and forms a T shape together the handle 2. The telescopic rod 3 is able to extend or contract and then fixed when desired. The telescopic rod 3 normally is divided into, but not limited to, three parts. With such a convenient design, the user is able to adjust the rod into a appropriate length to fit the user's height demand. The upper portion of the telescopic rod 3 is received in the sleeve 21 of the handle 2 and has a boss 31 corresponding to the T shaped track 22. With the relative rotation between the handle 2 and the telescopic rod 3, the boss 31 is able to extend into the T shaped track 22 and secure the engagement between the handle 2 and the telescopic rod 3.
The foot support 4 is pivotally and rotatably connected to a free distal end of the telescopic rod 3 to support thereon the user's foot. On top of the foot support 4, a slide proof device is designed so that whenever the user's foot is on top of the foot support 4, the foot is somewhat controlled to stay on top of the foot support 4. The slide proof device may be a ledge 41 pivotally formed on a peripheral edge of the foot support 4 and has a semicircular cutout (not numbered) defined therein such that when the ledge 41 is not used, the ledge 41 is pivoted to have the body of the telescopic rod 3 received inside the semicircular cutout. In order to do that the semicircular cutout has a radius slightly larger than the telescopic rod 3 so that the telescopic rod body is able to be received in the semicircular cutout.
With reference to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, it is noted that the auxiliary device of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is used by a hemiplegia person, the user first moves his/her normal leg away from the bed and then operates the auxiliary device by holding the handle 2 with his/her normal fingers received in the recesses 23. The user moves the auxiliary device to reach for the disabled foot to have the foot fully abut on the top of the foot support 4 with the ledge 41, extended away from the foot support 4 such that the user's foot is securely placed on the top of the foot support 4 and then the user may move the disabled foot away from the bed. By the time when both the user's legs are away from the bed, the user is then able to use the auxiliary device of the present invention as a walking stick with the foot support 4 pivoted toward the telescopic rod 3 and having the telescopic rod 3 securely received in the semicircular cutout of the ledge 41 which is also pivoted toward the top of the foot support 4.
It is also noted that because the design of the telescopic rod 3, the pivotal relationship between the ledge 41 and the foot support 4, as well as the pivotal relationship between the foot support 4 and the telescopic rod 3, the auxiliary device of the present invention is compact and thus small in size for storage.
While the invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An auxiliary device for helping disabled person to get off bed, the auxiliary device comprising:

a handle;

a telescopic rod extended directly from a bottom of the handle; and

a foot support pivotally connected to a distal end of the telescopic rod.

2. The auxiliary device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the handle and the telescopic rod together forms a T shape.

3. The auxiliary device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the handle is rotatable relative to the telescopic rod.

4. The auxiliary device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the handle has a sleeve integrally extended from a bottom of the handle to receive therein a top of the telescopic rod, the sleeve has a track to receive therein a boss formed on the top of the telescopic rod so that engagement between the handle and the telescopic rod is secured.

5. The auxiliary device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the handle has series of continuous recessed defined in a side of the handle.

6. The auxiliary device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the telescopic rod is divided into three parts.

7. The auxiliary device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the foot support is rotatable relative to the telescopic rod.

8. The auxiliary device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the foot support has a ledge pivotally extended from the foot support.

9. The auxiliary device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the ledge has a semicircular cutout defined therein to receive therein the telescopic rod.

10. The auxiliary device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the foot support has a ledge pivotally extended from the foot support and having a semicircular cutout defined therein to receive therein the telescopic rod.