US2680855A

US2680855A - Attachment for lifting invalids in and out of bathtubs

Info

Publication number: US2680855A
Application number: US252771A
Authority: US
Inventors: Maudie L Robinson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1951-10-23
Filing date: 1951-10-23
Publication date: 1954-06-15
Anticipated expiration: 1971-06-15

Description

June 15, 1954 M. L. ROBINSON ,8

ATTACHMENT FOR LIFTING INVALIDS IN AND OUT OF BATHTUBS Filed 001;. 23, 1951 INVENTOR MAUDIE I .ROBINSON ATTORNEYS Patented June 15, 1954 UNITED STATS i A'lENT OFFICE ATTACHMENT FGR LIFTING INVALIDS IN AND OUT OF BATHTUBS Maudie L. Robinson, Kenosha, Wis.

Application October 23, 1951, Serial No. 252,771

2 Claims. (01. 4-485) This invention appertains to a self-operated invalid lift, and has for its principal object the provision or" a simple and highly efficient device by means of which an invalid or patient can lift and transport himself from a bed or wheelchair, and lower himself into and out of a bathtub or the like without outside assistance and without injury or disturbance of the patients body.

In the handling or treating of prolonged illnesses of patients or invalids, it is often necessary to raise the patient or invalid from his bed, stretcher, or wheelchair, and to transport him or place him in a bathtub. In general, the patient has to be moved by hand, necessitating the attendance of several persons, and in the case where the patient or invalid suffers a serious illness or is relatively heavy, it may easily happen that injury or discomfort is caused to the patient or invalid. In the past, various mechanical means have been suggested for lifting patients or invalids from their beds or wheelchairs, but such devices are complicated, usually requiring an attendant, and are in general insuiiicient to insure simple mechanical operation thereof and complete comfort and safety to the patient or invalid.

Therefore, another important object of my invention i to provide a device for supporting the invalid or patient while taking a bath, and allowing him to lower himself into a bathtub and out of the same without any outside assistance.

A further object of my invention is the provision of means for lowering a patient or invalid into a bathtub to any desired depth and raising him out of the tub, and to allow the moving of the support on which the patient or invalid rests from his bedstead or wheelchair directly over th bathtub.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a self-operated invalid lift which includes a chair portion and a pivoted leg and foot rest, the bottoms of which are provided with rollers so that when the chair portion and leg and foot rest are lowered into the tub, the leg and foot rest may be pivoted to any desired position relative to the chair portion. A further object of my invention is to provide a simple, practical and reliable construction that is economical to manufacture, easy to assemble and positive in its operation.

With the above and other objects in view, which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangements of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of my improved invalid lift illustrated in its position for use over a bath tub, and looking in the direction of the arrows of line l-l of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the device, the view being taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is an enlarged side elevational view in section, of the invalid support, the section being taken on the line 33 of Figure 2, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the invalid support, partly in section, clearly showing the seat and foot rest portions, the section being taken on the line d-4 of Figure 3, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5 is a detailed section showing one of the supporting rollers, the section being taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 6 is a detailed sectional view showing in particular the pivot support for the leg and foot rest, the section being taken on the line B-S of Figure 3, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter A generally indicates my improved invalid lift which includes broadly the invalid support l9, hoist H and track-way T. The track-way T is positioned transversely across the bath tub B, and is in the form of an I-beam it. This I- beam 1 i may be secured adjacent the ceiling of a bathroom as illustrated, or it may be part of a movable or portable frame. The hoist H is movably supported on the I-beam by the provision of two rollers l2 and it, which are fastened to the motor housing M of the hoist H in any desired manner.

The motor housing it contains any conventional type of hoist motor which is provided with a hoisting cable is and a control cable it.

The invalid support l0 includes a chair portion I! and aleg and foot rest portion is pivoted thereto. While the invalid support l0 may be constructed of any desired material, in the preferred form it is constructed primarily of steel tubing. The chair portion l'l has a seat l9 and 3 a back 29 made from one continuous length of tubing, which is suitably covered with any type of material as shown. Arm rest 2| may or may not be provided if desired.

The chair portion I! is supported in its upright position to the hoist cable 15 by means of a novel triangular shaped supporting link 22, the apex of each angle being enlarged as shown. The cable 15 is secured to the upper enlarged portion 23,

and the lower enlarged portion 2d of link 22 is provided with a ring 25 to which is secured two supporting

cables

25 and 21. The outer enlarged portion 28 of the link 22 has secured thereto cable 29. The back 26 of the chair portion 11 is provided with upstanding eyes 3|] and 3|, to which the respective ends of the

cables

26 and 21 are secured. Cable 29, by means of snap hook 32, is fastened to an upstanding eye '33 which is welded or otherwise secured to the forward tubing section 3d of the seat [9.

The under corners of the seat portion are each provided with a pair of downwardly extending ears. The forward ears 35 form a pivoted support for the leg and foot rest portion l3, and

the rear cars 36 form a support for the rubber :1.

formed from a continuous U-shaped length of tubing 2, each leg of which is flattened at its upper end 63, and it is through this flattened portion 43 that the pivot bolt 4| extends. The fiattened portion 43 also extends rearwardly and its upper surface rests against the lower surface of the tubing 38 at ee, to hold the leg and foot rest is in-the position illustrated by the full lines of Figure 1 and Figure 3. The foot rest 45 may be made of wood or rubber composition, and is fastened to the tubing 42 by means of screws 65, as shown in particular in Figure 4.

In using the lift, the invalid or patient lowers the support into position next to his bed or wheelchair by manipulating the control cable it, which operates the hoist. After he has seated himself properly in the device, he then fastens cable 29 to the upstanding eye 33, and raises himself to the desired height by again actuating control cable It. He may then hand-propel himself along the I-beam it until he is in a position'over the bath tub as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. Here he again actuates the control cable is and lowers himself from the full line position (Figure 1) to the dotted line position.

It is to be noted that the hoist motor is of a very sensitive type, and very fine adjustments may be made by proper manipulation of the control cable 55. The patient or invalid may lower himself to any depth in the tub and be firmly'supported in that position. If, however, he desires to remove some of the strain from the hoist motor, he may lower himself almost completely into the tub as shown by the dotted lines of Figure 1. and in so doing, the

rollers

37, 39 will touch the 4 tub bottom and the foot rest will pivot upwardly. If it becomes necessary, the entire invalid support 10 may rest upon the tub bottom, and in this position the flattened portions 43 of the leg and foot rest will provide a third point of support on the bottom of the tub.

From the foregoing, it is believed that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will, of course, be understood that changes in the form, proportion minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for hoisting invalids into and out of a bath tub of the type having a transverse supporting frame, a hoisting mechanism free to travel thereon, a hoisting cable associated with the hoisting mechanism, and a control cable for operating the hoist; an invalid support in three-pointsuspension with said hoist cable, said invalid support including a chair portion having a covered seat and back formed from a continuous length of steel tubing and a U-shaped length of steel tubing forming a hinged leg and foot rest, a pair of rollers secured to the under surface of said chair portion, a pair of rollers secured to the under'surface of leg and foot rest, and means including flattened extensions of said leg and foot rest for limiting the pivotal are of swing of the leg and foot rest.

2. in an apparatus for hoisting invalids into and out of a bath tub of the type having a transverse srpporting frame, a hoisting mechanism free to travel thereon, a hoist cable associated witi'i the hoisting mechanism, and control cable for operating the hoist; an invalid support in three-p t suspension with hoist cable, said invalid support including a back section, a seat section and a leg and foot rest pivotedly secured to forward portion of seat section, a triangular link suspended between hoist cable and said invalid support, a of cables-secured to the section of the invalid support'and extending convergingly upward and secured to said triangular link, said triangular link being so constructed and arranged that all of its legs lie in the same vertical plane with its lower leg extending horizontally from a point in alignment with the back section of the invalid support to a point toward the forward end of said seat section, said converging cables being secured to the inner end of said lower leg, a cable secured at one end to the forward end of said seat section and having its other secured to the outer end of said lower leg of the triangular link, and a series of rollers secured to the under surface .of said seat section and said leg and foot rest.

References (Jited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 235,665 Peck Sept. 25, 1883 518,751 Chambers Apr. '24,- 1894 842,276 Traver Jan. 29, 1&0? 924,17? Moore June's, i909 Winter Jan. 30, 1945 2,562,598 Brown July 31. 1951