Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47K—SANITARY EQUIPMENT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TOILET ACCESSORIES
  • A47K17/00—Other equipment, e.g. separate apparatus for deodorising, disinfecting or cleaning devices without flushing for toilet bowls, seats or covers; Holders for toilet brushes
  • A47K17/02—Body supports, other than seats, for closets, e.g. handles, back-rests, foot-rests; Accessories for closets, e.g. reading tables
  • A47K17/022—Wall mounted grab bars or handles, with or without support on the floor
  • A47K17/024—Wall mounted grab bars or handles, with or without support on the floor pivotally mounted on the wall
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47K—SANITARY EQUIPMENT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TOILET ACCESSORIES
  • A47K3/00—Baths; Douches; Appurtenances therefor
  • A47K3/001—Accessories for baths, not provided for in other subgroups of group A47K3/00 ; Insertions, e.g. for babies; Tubs suspended or inserted in baths; Security or alarm devices; Protecting linings or coverings; Devices for cleaning or disinfecting baths; Bath insulation
  • A47K3/003—Grips for baths

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a supporting device, in particular for use in a toilet for the dis- abled and the like, comprising an essentially elongated supporting element with an essentially flat, elongated supporting surface, which flat, elongated supporting surface is substantially horizontal when in the working position, and a fixing element interacting with one end of the supporting element.
• Such a supporting device is known.
• the supporting device is in the form of a straight tube, one end of which is mounted on a plate-shaped fixing element.
• Two of these supporting devices are fixed in the usual manner at a desired height to a wall behind a lavatory bowl, on either side of the lavatory bowl.
• the desired height can be a standard height of 24 cm of the supporting surface above a seat height of 48 cm of the lavatory bowl, for example in accordance with the Dutch guideline "Standards for access offered". This standard height corresponds to the average distance between the elbow and the seat in the seated position.
• each of the two supporting devices can comprise a second tube situ- ated vertically below the first tube, the two tubes each determining one of the legs of a U-shaped element.
• This known supporting device has, however a number of disadvantages in practice. It has been found that, although adequate body support is provided in the seated position when the user has sat down on the lava ⁇ tory bowl, when getting up from the bowl there is not sufficient support to reach a completely upright position of the body. Nor is there enough support at the start of sitting down on the lavatory bowl from an upright posi ⁇ tion of the body. It is in fact the end phase of getting up and the beginning phase of sitting down that are characterised by an unstable position of the body. This known supporting device does not provide adequate sup ⁇ porting facilities for use of the toilet standing up either.
• the object of the present invention is to elimin ⁇ ate these disadvantages, and for this purpose according to the invention a supporting device of the type men ⁇ tioned in the preamble is provided, characterised in that the supporting element at least near its other end has a further supporting part with a further horizontal sup ⁇ porting surface which in the working position is essen- tially horizontal, and which is fitted staggered relative to the flat, elongated horizontal supporting surface.
• one or more additional supporting points can be provided, in order to provide a body support with the supporting device not only during sitting but in every phase of sitting down or getting up from the lavatory bowl.
• the staggered fitting also offers the user the maximum accessibility to the different supporting surfaces provided by the supporting device.
• Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the supporting device according to the invention
• Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a second embodiment of the supporting device according to the invention
• Figure 3 shows a cross-section along the line
• Figure 4 shows a top view of the embodiment according to Figure 2.
• Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a third embodiment of a supporting device according to the invention.
• Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of a supporting device 1 according to the invention, in which the sup- porting device comprises a supporting element in the form of a straight tube 2 with a flat, elongated horizontal supporting surface 3, and a fixing element 4 which interacts, preferably by means of a hinge joint, with one end of the tube 2.
• the tube 2 together with a further reinforcement tube 5 forms part of a flat and essentially U-shaped element.
• the supporting device 1 can be made of any suitable material which is strong enough, for example steel or aluminium.
• the tube diameter can be, for example, approximately 3 cm, and the total length of the supporting device 1 can be between 60 and 90 cm.
• the tube 2 has a further tubular supporting part 6 with a further horizontal supporting surface 7 which relative to the elongated horizontal supporting surface 3 in the working position is fitted staggered in the vertical direction over a distance A.
• the supporting surface 7 at a part 8 passes slanting down into the flat, elongated supporting surface 3, enclosing an angle a.
• the distance from the supporting surface 7 to the supporting surface 3 is preferably around 5 cm.
• the further supporting part 6 is formed by a deformation in the outward direction, corresponding to the arrow (a) , of a U-shaped element on the end facing away from the fixing element 4 and in the plane of the U-shaped element.
• Two of these supporting devices 1 can be fixed on either side of a lavatory bowl to the wall behind it with a distance of, for example, 65 cm between them, in which case the supporting surface 3 can be at a standard height (h) of 24 cm above a seat height of 48 cm of the lavatory bowl, in order to provide a suitable support during sitting.
• the hand In the process of sitting down the hand can be moved gradually from the supporting part 6 to the tube 2 via the slanting part 8.
• the angle ⁇ lies on average preferably between 120° and 170°.
• the slanting transition here prevents a dorsiflexion of the wrist, so that this joint is not placed under too much strain, something which is very important in the case of rheumatic patients.
• the U-shaped element can be flapped up to a position which is shown by dashed lines in Figure 1.
• the U-shaped element can preferably be locked in any of the two positions shown.
• Figure 2 shows a second embodiment of the sup ⁇ porting device according to the invention, in which parts corresponding to parts shown in Figure 1 are indicated by the same reference numbers.
• a top view of this second embodiment is shown in Figure 4.
• the staggered fitting of the further supporting part 9 is shown in greater detail in Figure 3.
• the tubular support ⁇ ing part 9 and the tube 2 thus each form a leg of a U- shaped element with staggered legs.
• the distance B between the legs, measured parallel to the arrow (b) is preferably at least 4 cm.
• the distance between the legs from central axis to central axis is preferably between 10 and 30 cm.
• the tube 2 is deformed, and the tube 9 is straight. It is, however, clear that a straight tube 2 and a deformed tube 9 are also possible, or there can be two staggered straight tubes.
• Figure 5 shows an example in perspective view of the latter embodiment.
• support for the body is provided by the supporting part 9, on the one hand through gripping the tube 2 and, on the other, through resting the upper part of the lower arm against the supporting part 9, which permits a stable body position during getting up from and sitting down on the toilet.
• the user when the user is sitting down or getting up the hand can be moved towards or away from the slanting part 8 situated higher up than the tube 2.
• the supporting parts 6 and 9 provide additional support, in particular at their curved ends which are in fact higher up than the tube 2, which is at the standard height (h) . These higher up curved ends also provide a gripping face for moving over forwards from a wheelchair.
• the supporting device according to the invention is not limited to use in a toilet for disabled people, but is suitable for any application where it is desirable to provide body support in a similar manner.
• the number of further supporting parts and their exact form will depend partly on the degree of invalidity of the users. The latter can be, for example, the elderly, paraplegics or rheumatic patients.

Landscapes

• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Epidemiology (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Toilet Supplies (AREA)
• Physical Deposition Of Substances That Are Components Of Semiconductor Devices (AREA)
• Transition And Organic Metals Composition Catalysts For Addition Polymerization (AREA)
• Registering, Tensioning, Guiding Webs, And Rollers Therefor (AREA)
• Electrical Discharge Machining, Electrochemical Machining, And Combined Machining (AREA)
• Fluid-Damping Devices (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=19857865

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Cited By (6)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (4)

• 1990
  • 1990-10-23 NL NL9002307A patent/NL9002307A/nl not_active Application Discontinuation
• 1991
  • 1991-10-10 AT AT91918805T patent/ATE128337T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1991-10-10 DE DE69113477T patent/DE69113477T3/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1991-10-10 JP JP3517159A patent/JPH06502089A/ja active Pending
  • 1991-10-10 ES ES91918805T patent/ES2080342T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1991-10-10 EP EP91918805A patent/EP0554317B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1991-10-10 DK DK91918805.2T patent/DK0554317T3/da active
  • 1991-10-10 WO PCT/NL1991/000194 patent/WO1992006630A1/en active IP Right Grant

Patent Citations (5)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events