WO1989007431A1

WO1989007431A1 - Invalid chair

Info

Publication number: WO1989007431A1
Application number: PCT/EP1989/000115
Authority: WO
Inventors: Horst Langenbach
Original assignee: Paul, Albert
Priority date: 1988-02-10
Filing date: 1989-02-09
Publication date: 1989-08-24
Also published as: AU3059589A; DE8808994U1; DE8901464U1; EP0328087A1

Abstract

A stable, universal invalid chair which can be adjusted in an easy and obvious manner comprises an upper frame (10) supported on one side by two spindle drives (9) and on the opposite side by one spindle drive (12). One arm of the angle between the two parallel spindle drives is fixed, thereby ensuring robust, reliable displacements which allow the upper frame to be safely adjusted at different heights and in different angular positions. Side supports (20) hinged to form a parallelogram serve as arm-rests which can be lowered or raised as desired. The lever arms connected to the connecting rods (21, 23) allow the inclination of the back-rest and the leg supports (15, 16) to be adjusted by means of supporting rollers (25, 26).

Description

Nursing chair

The invention relates to a mobile and adjustable nursing chair with an upper frame, on the one transverse bar of which a backrest is articulated and on the opposite side of which leg supports are supported, which is adjustable in height and is supported on a frame equipped with castors or wheels, at least one of the castors or one of the wheels can be locked or braked. Care chairs of this type are used thanks to largely universal adjustment options in nursing and care for the disabled and are able to accommodate them both in a lying position and in any position that can be varied. Care is made considerably easier by the possibilities of supply and disposal.

It has been found, however, that the known care chairs used here have neither proven to be sufficiently robust nor universally adjustable to the desired extent, and in many cases it was found to be disadvantageous that an disadvantageously high control effort was just as necessary as that Operation proves to be undesirably cumbersome or complicated. The invention is therefore based on the object of creating a nursing chair of the type described which, on the one hand, offers universal adjustment possibilities and, on the other hand, proves to be robust even with only moderate outlay and does not make such demands on the operator in terms of control technology assumes that he is able to distract him from the actual care task, and which prevents unwanted adjustments, for example in the event of a power failure.

The object is achieved by the characterizing features of patent claim 1. This ensures that, on the one hand, one end of the upper frame can be raised or lowered essentially vertically, while the opposite end of the upper frame is not only common with the latter , but can also be raised or lowered independently of the drive on the side serving as the base, if required. Through the attack of two parallel operated, preferably vertically, vertically mounted lifting drives, a secure position of the one end serving as the base of the upper frame is achieved, while the drive engaging at the opposite end is pivoted on both sides so that a four handlebars has transmission, whose congruency or stability is ensured by a fixed, preferably right angle, which the two parallel lifting drives enclose with the actual frame due to their vertical mounting. Tilting or overstressing cannot occur either, since the main frame is supported at three points, two of which are provided in the base area by coupling the drive device, and can only be raised or lowered by the same amount, since they are synchronous , or driven in parallel. Features which include further and advantageous features as well as useful features are characterized in the subclaims.

The features of the invention are explained in detail on the basis of the following description of an exemplary embodiment in conjunction with the drawings illustrating the same. They show:

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a nursing chair,

FIG. 2 shows schematically cut a spindle tube having a threaded spindle,

Figure 3 is a releasable headrest, and

Figure 4 shows another possibility of locking leg supports.

In the drawing, the nursing chair is shown with a legrest and the backrest, which are pivoted approximately horizontally, while the second of the two-part legrests is lowered against the horizontal.

The nursing chair is constructed on a frame 3 which is essentially composed of longitudinal bars 1 and cross struts 2. The longitudinal bars 1 are extended on both sides and carry rollers 5 equipped with brake levers 4, and the projecting bar sections are protected by bow-like deflectors 6, which can also be used as carrying handles. On the frame 3, a box-like structure 7 is arranged, which extends over the entire width of the frame 3 in the area shown on the left, but in the following areas only over a central area thereof, so that over the Holmen 1 standing, made of stronger wire mesh limit a storage space. In the area of this structure 7, vertically upwardly projecting spindle tubes 8 with an advantageously large base are supported twice, which can be driven synchronously by connecting pinions provided on the spindle tubes 8 and a pinion provided on the output of a geared motor by a common link chain. At the free end of the spindle tubes, spindle nuts 35 shown in FIG. 2 are arranged, which engage in the thread of spindles 9, which, expediently pivotable slightly within the plane of the drawing, are connected to an upper frame 10. In the region of the opposite end of the upper frame, a spindle support 11 is pivotally mounted, which is fixedly connected to a spindle 12 which engages in a spindle nut arranged on a spindle tube 13. The lower end of the spindle tube 12 is mounted in a tube carrier (not shown) running transversely and pivotably held in the frame 3 and can be driven by means of a gear motor (not shown). There is thus the possibility of vertically displacing the two sides of the end of the upper frame 10 shown on the left, by the same amount, while the end of the upper frame 10 shown on the right is independently adjustable in height. The spindle drives represent lifting drives which can be implemented robustly with relatively little effort and which, in connection with driving geared motors, have proven to be reliable. It also proves to be advantageous that, due to the self-locking of the spindle drive, adjustments are not made in the event of a power failure. However, it has proven useful to additionally support the free ends of the threaded spindles within the spindle tubes in order to prevent canting under load even with sufficient play in the spindle nuts. 2, a spindle nut 35 is pressed into the mouth region of a spindle tube 8 and additionally by at least one weld 36 secured. The free end of the threaded spindle 9 standing inside the spindle tube 8 is equipped with a square into which a threaded hole is made, so that a plastic disk 37 of great strength can be connected to the threaded spindle in a rotationally fixed manner by means of a screw. The jacket of this plastic disk 37, which is made of low-wear plastic, guides the free end of the threaded spindle 9 centrally in the spindle tube 8 even with asymmetrical loads.

It has also proven useful to drive the two spindle tubes 8 by means of separate chain or belt drives from a motor which, for reasons of space saving, is mounted essentially centrally between them. A wrap angle of practically 180 ° is thus achieved, and the forces exerted by the chains or belts on the motor shaft are largely compensated for. The chains or timing belts can be tensioned easily and uniformly by adjusting them essentially transversely to the connecting line of the spindle tubes.

Even in front of the left end of the upper frame 10, a backrest 17 is articulated by means of hinges 14 to a cross strut of the same, the free end of which is connected in an articulated manner to a handle bar 18 which serves to push the nursing chair, and which has a control box 19 takes up, which has the operating elements for the drives as well as the supply devices and disposal devices. In the illustrated horizontal position of the backrest 17, covered by a resilient support, it also represents a support for the head of a lying patient. Some or all of the control elements of the control box 19, possibly also further ones, can be provided as a duplicate within the reach of the person to be cared for, either in a further, fixed control box and / or in a movable remote control box.

A guide lever 27 is articulated to the upper frame 10, the opposite end of which is articulated to a short strut arranged on the handle bracket 18. The given by the hinges 14, the joint of the guide lever 27 shown on the right, the articulation axis of the handle bracket 18 and the geometrical figure given the downward-extending tab represents a parallelogram, so that a parallelogram is formed, which causes the backrest to pivot upwards 17 the articulated handle bar 18 follows with a constant inclination towards the horizontal.

The nursing chair is equipped with a side protection which can be moved extremely downward, so that a sick person or person to be cared for can easily be turned over or brought onto the nursing chair or removed from it. In this position, not shown, the side support 20 is approximately parallel to the longitudinal spars of the upper frame 10 at their height or just below their upper cover surfaces. The side supports 20 are guided by links 21 and 23 of essentially the same length, the lower ends of the links 21 being firmly connected on both sides to a shaft mounted in the upper frame, which is expediently designed as a hollow shaft, and which also has a drive lever 31 is firmly connected to which a spindle drive 32 operated by a geared motor, shown here for the sake of clarity, engages. It is thus possible to pivot the drive lever 31 and thus the two opposing links 21 via the spindle drive 32. The swivel axes determine again the respective corners of a parallelogram, so that a parallelogram gearbox is created. When the lever 31 is pivoted to the left into the position shown, the side support 20 has risen at least to such an extent that a caregiver placed on the nursing chair set as a couch is not endangered and cannot, for example, roll "sideways" or tip over When the lower end of the drive lever 31 is moved further to the left, the levers 21 and 23 pivot clockwise, taking the side support 20 with them so that it is shifted to the right and upwards and, accordingly, in the extreme sitting position as normal armrest can serve.

In practice, you will often deviate from pure parallelograms: if the handlebar 23 is made slightly longer than the handlebar 21, the side support 20 can be parallel to it at the height of the upper frame 10, but when it is fully extended it is often a side backrest when sitting desired slight drop towards the backrest 17 is achieved.

With the handlebar 21, a roller carrier 22 is connected, at the free end of a support roller 25 is provided. The same applies to the handlebar 21 behind it. In the position shown, the back support 17 rests with its hinge end on longitudinal bars of the upper frame 10 and is thus supported horizontally. At the same time, however, the support rollers 25 have already moved up to contact with the underside of the spars of the backrest 17 by pivoting the drive lever 31. If the drive lever 31 and thus the links 21 and 23 are now pivoted further in the right direction, the support rollers 25 raise the backrest 17 and thus also pivot them in the right direction. The Support rollers 25 run into the spaces formed between the spars of the backrest 27 and the connecting elements 33 connected to them, so that a seated person can lean against a raised backrest 17 and load it, the support rollers 25 absorbing these loads However, if the handle 18 is pushed with greater force and thus the backrest 17 is loaded in the inverse sense, then it cannot be raised any further because the support rollers 25 now lie against the pillows 33 and thrust forces therewith are able to intercept, so that even pushing with stronger forces cannot affect the caregiver.

When pushing it makes a positive difference that the extension of the bars 1 causes the rollers 5 to stand in front of the actual frame. Thus, the pushing person does not run the risk of striking the cross strut 2 with his feet, since this is set back in relation to the rollers. Blocking in any position can easily be achieved by using rollers 5 equipped with braking devices; it is only necessary to actuate at least one of the brake levers 4 of the rollers 5 in the desired position reached.

The parallelogram gears of the side support 20 which are actuated via the spindle drive 32 and the drive lever 31 not only determine the position of the side supports 20 themselves and that of the backrest 17: They also determine the position of the leg supports 15 and 16, respectively. The links 23 are each firmly connected to an angle lever 24, which are equipped at their free ends with support rollers 26 which engage under the outer spars of the leg supports 15 and 16, respectively. When the side support 20 is retracted, the leg supports 15 and 16 are thus in a horizontal position, as is the case for the leg support 15 is shown. When driving upwards into the position of the side support 20 and the handlebar 2 shown in the figure, the leg supports are already lowered, as is shown for the leg support 16 lying behind the leg support 15. When the side support 20 is further erected and the backrest 17 is turned on, the leg support 16 would also be correspondingly lowered further. However, it is possible, if desired, to continue to leave one or both of the leg supports horizontal when the side support is extended and, if appropriate, also when the backrest is raised. For this purpose, latch supports 28 are articulated to the leg supports 15 and 16, which are usually able to slide over bolts arranged fixed to the upper frame or also hang down only vertically. By hooking the lower ends of the latch supports 28 into such a bolt that is fixed to the upper frame, as is shown for the latch support 28 of the leg rest 15, this leg rest is held in its horizontal position, even if the supporting roller 26 supporting it due to the continuous pivoting of the angle bracket ¬ bels 24 moves downwards.

Footrests 34 are articulated to the leg supports 15 and 16 in the region of their free ends so that their essential parts rest on them, if necessary somewhat recessed, in the pivoted-in state. On the other hand, they can be pivoted out of the leg supports 15 or 16 at right angles up to a stop in order to give a foot a firm hold. Here, too, it is possible, as shown, to pivot the footrest 34 of only one of the legrests 16 and to keep that of the other 15 sunk.

This means that for just three drive motors in conjunction with robust actuating gearboxes, there are almost universal possibilities for adjusting a backrest and leg supports in Connection with arbitrarily adjustable heights of the upper frame and also through the possibilities of adjusting it against the horizontal by means of the spindle 12. The use of self-locking spindle drives has an advantageous effect, and the use of only three motors allows the total weight of the nursing chair to be kept within pleasantly low limits.

The nursing chair is capable of a multitude of variations. For example, it may be desirable to dispense with support rollers 26 engaging the outer longitudinal profiles of the leg supports 15, 16, so as not to expose the drives due to their appearance on the one hand, but to exclude access to drive parts as far as possible. In addition, there is the possibility of tapering the leg supports in their full length or a substantial part length towards the free end. It is useful not to mount the links 23 directly in the upper frame 10, but to arrange them on the two free ends of a shaft that is common to them, preferably a hollow shaft, which in turn is mounted in the upper frame 10. This shaft is expediently connected in the middle to a lever corresponding to the angle levers 24, the free end of which is provided with a transverse shaft which carries the two support rollers 26, which thus, in the case of an undivided leg support, reach under this in the middle and are able to act on a central longitudinal profile, and the leg supports which are divided or separately provided, as shown, are able to support their longitudinal profiles facing the vertical, longitudinally extending central plane. In a corresponding manner, the tab 21 can be designed continuously and a second lever, which receives support rollers 25, can be provided parallel to the drive lever 31. The latch supports 28 can also be perceived as disturbing. It is expedient here to equip the outer profiles of the leg supports 15 and 16 with axially displaceable bolts which are able to engage in corresponding recesses in the upper frame. Such bolts can be arranged parallel to the longitudinal profiles or can be provided in them so that a handle connected to the bolt passes through a slot in the longitudinal profile. However, it is also possible to accommodate the bolts in a separate guide. There is also the possibility of an inverse arrangement, in which the latches are arranged on or in the longitudinal profiles of the upper frame and the recesses, expediently the inside of the longitudinal profiles, of the leg supports can be pushed in, so that separate, free-standing latch bars and their bolts can also be inserted can be dispensed with.

A practical embodiment of such a bolt is shown in perspective in FIG. 4, the parts of the device being shown pulled apart to simplify the illustration. A section of a box section forming a leg support 16 adjoining the upper frame 10 of FIG. 1 is broken off, into which a longitudinal slot 42 on the front, transverse slots 43 on both sides and a bore on the rear and on the top are machined. The bolt 44 which can be moved within the box profile is shown on the left in the removed state; it is equipped with a cross bolt 45 and a handle, and a tension spring 46 is suspended on one side in the rear end of the cross bolt 45, the other end of which, after installation, is hooked into the hole on the top of the box section. The bolt 44 is equipped on its front side with an undercut locking hook 48. In the hole arranged on the back of the box profile, the short leg of the Locking bracket 47 is held, the longer leg extends through the transverse slots 43 and is equipped with a handle at the free end. After installation and in the unlocked state, the left-hand end of the latch 44 is introduced into a longitudinal profile of the upper frame 10 of FIG. 1 under the action of the tension spring 46, so that the legrest, comparable to the legrest 15 of FIG. 1, remains in a horizontal position. To release the locking, the bar 44 is moved to the right by means of the handle of the cross bolt 45 until the front oblique surface of the latch hook 48 lifts the long leg of the latch bracket 47 against gravity, which latches behind the hook after further advancement and passage through the oblique surface ein¬ falls. To lock again, the long leg of the locking bracket 47 is to be lifted by means of the handle, and to exclude the undercut, the latch is to be pushed briefly against the force of the tension spring 46 by means of its handle; after releasing the locking bracket, the bolt can be returned in the direction of the force exerted by the tension spring, and at the latest when it is moved into the horizontal position, the tension spring 46 is able to insert the left-hand bolt end into a profile opening of a long profile of the upper frame 10.

As shown, two separate leg supports or one common leg support can be provided.

It has proven useful to additionally use the upper cover surface of the control box 19 as an effective headrest when lying down. In this case, either a cushion can be placed on the upper cover surface or the upper cover surface itself can be provided with upholstery. If necessary, this upper cover surface can also be horizontal. However, it has been found that in a number of cases, particularly especially when the backrest is already raised, a special support for the head of a patient can be dispensed with, but such headrests are desired or even necessary not only while lying down, but also during straightening up, ie while the backrest is being swung up. In such cases, it has proven useful, according to FIG. 3, to articulate a headrest 38 separately to the free end of the backrest 17, which at least in the horizontal position of the backrest on the handle bar 18, the control box 19 or parts or components thereof in horizontal or supports only slightly angled position. At the same time, the headrest and the backrest 17 are provided with a locking device 40 which engages in the horizontal position and connects the headrest to the free end of the backrest 17 in a rotationally fixed manner until the locking device can be triggered manually. If the backrest 17 is now lowered into its horizontal position, the headrest engages and, when the backrest is pivoted up again, it is pivoted up into the position shown in dashed lines and is able to support the patient's head. If, for example when the backrest is folded up, the headrest is no longer required, or if it even disturbs it, the latching device can be unlocked and the backrest can pivot back into its basic position, for example on the control box 19, so that it no longer disturbing, but when swiveling down again by the handle bar, the control box or parts thereof is brought into new effectiveness.

The nursing chair is still automated, on the one hand to make nursing easier and on the other hand to allow largely disabled nursing staff to carry out certain processes automatically. So the contact surface can be trough-shaped and plastic foils or thin plastic plates be made waterproof so that washing and a type of shower is made possible by spraying. A removable body bowl 30 is arranged in a pull-out drawer 29, and spray nozzles ensure automatic cleaning of the anal intimate area, appropriately preheated water is used for the actual cleaning, which is combined with fragrance, care and / or disinfectants can be added. Subsequent drying can be achieved by heated inflated air currents. The water required, but also additives or the like can be accommodated within containers in the structure 7, as can the containers for holding used water. The area below the upper frame 10 can also be used to hold containers, fans, pumps or the like. The arrangement is expediently operated from accumulator batteries likewise accommodated in structure 7; in the case of a stationary installation, the batteries can be relieved by at least temporarily connected power supply units which, for example in buffer operation, can recharge the batteries and at the same time give off the power required by the drives, possibly also heating resistors. There is also the possibility to provide only two pivotable castors 5 and to keep one or two fixedly mounted impellers or a steerably pivotable impeller drivable. Electrical operation is also recommended here, which can be operated from a battery during the movement of the nursing chair. Corresponding low voltage avoids any danger from the power supply. The arrangement can be made arbitrarily robust; for example, the drawer used for supply is held in telescopic rails mounted on balls.

Claims

1. Mobile and adjustable nursing chair with an upper frame, on the one transverse bar of which a backrest is articulated and on the opposite side of which leg supports are supported, which are adjustable in height and supported on a frame equipped with castors or wheels, at least one of the castors or one of the wheels can be locked or braked, characterized in that the upper frame (10) is supported in the region of its first cross bar by two threaded spindles (9), the spindle tubes (8) supporting them with spindle nuts and surrounding them in a frame (3) mounted and rotatably connected to each other jointly drivable, and that on the opposite side of the upper frame pivotable about an axis parallel to the cross bars, a spindle support (11) is provided, which is supported by an independently operable spindle-spindle nut gear , which is substantially vertical, and its lower end to the cream en (3) is articulated.

2. Care chair according to claim 1, d a d u r c h g e k e n e z e i c h n t that the spindle tubes (8) connected to one another in a rotationally fixed manner are connected to one another and to a driving gear motor by means of pinions and link chains and / or toothed belt pulleys and toothed belts.

3. Nursing chair according to one of claims I or 2, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the spindle tubes (8) are vertically oriented while maintaining a base-spacing of the bearings are stored twice.

4. Care chair according to one of claims 1 to 3, so that the free ends of the threaded spindles (9, 12) engaging in the spindle tubes (8, 13) are equipped with a plastic disk (37) guiding the threaded spindle in the spindle tube.

5. nursing chair according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the backrest (17) and / or leg supports (15, 16) with the upper frame (10) by hinges (14) are connected, the common axis of which is substantially at height the supporting surfaces of the upper frame and the adjoining areas of the backrest and / or the leg supports.

6. nursing chair according to one of claims 1 to 5, g e k e n n n z e i c h n e t d u r c h on both sides of the upper frame (10) by means of links (21, 23) on these hinged side supports (20), in which the handlebars guide the side supports as a parallelogram transmission.

7. nursing chair according to one of: claims 1 to 6, characterized in that two mutually opposite links (21) with a common, continuous, in the upper frame (10) mounted shaft are rotatably connected, which is connected to a drive lever (31), to which an actuator attacks.

8. nursing chair according to claim 7, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the actuator is designed as a spindle drive (32).

9. nursing chair according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the handlebars (21, 23) with levers (roller carrier 22, angle lever 24) are connected by means of support rollers (25, 26) longitudinal profiles of the backrest (17) or reach under leg supports (15, 16).

10. nursing chair according to claim 9, characterized in that two mutually opposite links (23) are rotatably connected to a common, continuous, in the upper frame (10) mounted shaft, which has a lever in the middle, which by means of support rollers (26) longitudinal profiles provided in the middle or facing the vertical central plane, in particular the leg supports (15, 16).

11. Nursing chair according to one of claims 1 to 10, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the backrest (17) with at least partially supporting rollers (25) encompassing scenes (33).

12. nursing chair according to one of claims 1 to 11, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that on leg supports (15, 16) latch supports (28) are articulated, which can be hung in frame-fixed bolts.

13. nursing chair according to one of claims 1 to 10, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that longitudinal profiles of leg supports (15, 16) axially displaceable, engaging in recesses of the upper frame latch (44).

14. Nursing chair according to one of claims 1 to 13, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that a handle bar (18) is articulated on the backrest (17), which is guided by a parallelogram-like articulated guide lever (27) when pivoting the backrest (17) with a constant inclination.

15. Nursing chair according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the handle bar (18) is connected to an actuator having control boxes (19).

16. Nursing chair according to one of claims 14 or 15, characterized by a headrest (38) hinged to the free end of the backrest (17), the pivoting path of which acts as a stop regions of the handle bar (18) and / or the control box (19) is limited, and which is provided with a manually releasable locking device (40) which locks the headrest in a rotationally fixed manner when the horizontal position of the backrest (17) is approached.

17. nursing chair according to one of claims 1 to 16, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the leg supports (15, 16) are equipped with adjustable footrests (34).

18. Nursing chair according to one of claims 1 to 17, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that below the upper frame (10) and within a structure (7) of the frame (3) supply devices and disposal devices (30) are provided.