WO1994015569A1

WO1994015569A1 - Lifting means for a patient

Info

Publication number: WO1994015569A1
Application number: PCT/FI1993/000572
Authority: WO
Inventors: Päivikki MIKKONEN; Kari Olkkonen; Hannu Paasonen; Simo Paltere
Original assignee: Ahlstrom Consumer Products Ltd.
Priority date: 1992-12-31
Filing date: 1993-12-31
Publication date: 1994-07-21
Also published as: FI925982A; FI925982A0

Abstract

The present invention relates to a lifting means for lifting and transferring a patient, the means comprising a garment to be worn continuously by the patient and having a body portion covering the body, leg portions and possibly also sleeve portions, and having in the region of the shoulders and in the region of the thighs at a distance from the knees, securing means for securing the garment in the supporting means of a lifting device. The lifting means is designed and manufactured so as not to subject the patient to point load or pressing feeling during the lifting operation but the weight is divided more evenly than in conventional lifting slings and vests.

Description

LIFTING MEANS FOR A PATIENT

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Field of invention

The present invention relates to a lifting means to be attached to a patient for lifting and transferring the patient supported by a lifting device comprising supporting means, such as straps, for securing said lifting means to the lifting device.

Prior art

Working conditions are often problematic when nursing disabled patients. Lifting the patient is ergonomically difficult for the personnel. Today, there are many kinds of auxiliary eguipment available for transferring and lifting the patients. Various lifting devices, for example mobile lifting devices on legs, bath room lifters, hoists in the cealing, etc. are commonly used. For example, the patient is dressed in a lifting vest or a sling which is secured to a lifting device, usually by means of straps. Thus, the patient carried by the lifting sling can be transferred e.g. to and from a wheel chair by means of the lifting means.

U.S. patent no. 4,935,975 discloses a one-piece mesh garment covering the body and part of the arms and legs of the patient wearing the garment. Hooks provided in the straps of the support device are secured at appropriate points in loops of the mesh garment for lifting and transferring the patient.

U.S. patent no. 4,739,526 discloses a front-fitting lifting harness comprising a set of straps to be secured to a suspension frame by the shoulders of the patient and a second set of straps to be secured to the suspension frame and extending around the thighs of the patient. The harness does not cover the lower back or the buttocks of the patient and it is thus easier to put on the patient than lifting slings and vests covering the back and the buttocks. A drawback of prior art lifting slings and vests is that the patient must be dressed in them for each lifting operations separately because they would be inconvenient to wear continuously. Further, they usually include complicated securing systems . The patients seldom can put on or remove the lifting vest themselves but one or several nurses are needed for the job, depending on the condition of the patient, and further, the operation reguires much time. Lifting slings usually have a four-point securing system for the supporting straps of the lifting device, two of them in the shoulder region and two in the thigh region of the patient. During lifting, this imposes point load to the patient and a pressing feeling due to the hopper-like form of the sling which make the patient feel very uncomfortable and may cause various sores and other skin injuries.

Disclosure of invention

The object of the present invention is to reduce the drawbacks discussed above and to provide means for lifting and transferring a patient which means need not be put on and removed for each lifting operation separately but may be worn continuously. The lifting means is provided with easy connection means for securing the lifting means to a lifting device.

The present invention relates to a lifting means for lifting and transferring a patient in support of a lifting device, the lifting means comprising supporting means, such as straps, for securing said lifting means to the lifting device. It is characteristic of the invention that the lifting means comprises a garment to be worn continuously by the patient, and having a body portion covering the body, leg portions, and possibly also sleeve portions, and having in the shoulder region, and in the thigh region at a distance from the knees, securing means for securing the garment to the supporting means of the lifting device. The lifting means according to the invention is a garment which may be worn like any other piece of clothing. Thus, it is not necessary to put it on separately for each lifting operation and remove it after that. It is a garment for everyday wear which does not at once reveal the lifting function. The lifting means, i.e. the garment is provided with securing elements for connecting it to the lifting device so that it is easy to secure to the straps of the lifting device and that the patient can do it himself. Further, the design of the lifting means contributes to the fact that the patient is not subjected to point loads or pressing forces caused by the lifting operation but the weight is divided more evenly than in conventional lifting slings and vests. The lifting load is imposed on the back portion and the seat portion of the legs.

The lifting means is manufactured of a material which breaths and is also in other respects comfortable for the patient to wear. Naturally, the material must be strong enough in view of the lifting operation. In other respects there are no limitations to the material. Because the lifting load is imposed on the back portion of the garment, it may be made of a different material, i.e. of a stronger material than the front portion whereby a ligher garment is manufactured than if the whole garment was made of the same material. The back portion of the garment may be manufactured for example of a cotton-polyester blend and the front portion of cotton, only, whereby a pleasant and breathing piece of clothing is produced. This is important because the garment is worn by a patient spending his time in bed or a wheel chair.

Brief description of drawings

The invention is described, by way of example, more in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings of which

Fig. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a lifting means accordinα to the invention; Fig. 2 illustrates employing the lifting means of Fig. 1 in a lifting operation; and

Fig. 3 illustrates an alternative part of a locking device in a supporting means, i.e. a strap of a lifting device to be secured to the lifting means according to the invention.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments

The lifting means according to the invention comprises a garment 2 having a body portion 4 and leg portions 6. The garment may also have sleeve portions but in this embodiment there are only sleeveless openings for the arms. The inner sides of the leg portions may be provided with zippers 8 or corresponding means to facilitate putting on the garment. The garment is manufactured and the securing points, i.e. the lifting points for the lifting device have been arranged so as to cause the lifting load during the lifting operation to be imposed on the back and seat (leg) portions. Thus, no weight stress is imposed on the front portion. The patient is not subjected to point loads or pressing feelings as in conventional systems .

The garment 2 of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 is provided with strap-like backings 16 attached, for example by sewing, in the back portion of the garment and extending from the shoulder line like suspenders. The size of the backing pieces is determined by the tensile strength of the material used. Behind the shoulder line, the backing straps form loops 10 for insertion of supporting straps 20 of a lifting device 18. Thus, the lifting point is substantially in the shoulder line. By using backing elements similar to the backings 16, adequate strength is provided for the lifting operation and lifting does not cause pressing injuries. By using the backings, the lifting load is divided to the back and seat portions. A second set of backing straps 22 is provided in the legs 6 of the garment in the region of thighs and extend above the knees at least partly around the leg, for example from the outer side of the leg to the inner side of the thigh. The strap- like backings form loops 12 above the knees and the supporting

'straps 20 of the four-point lifting device 18 are connected to said loops 12. The distance of the correct lifting point from the knees depends on each patient, i.e. the length of his thighs and the desired lifting position of the legs. In the embodiment of Fig. 1, the position of the legs of the patient can further be adjusted by changing the length of portion 20a of the strap 20.

The backings may be manufactured of the same or different material than the back portion of the garment. The most essential factor in choosing the material is that it provides adequate strength for the lifting operation; on the other hand the material should be pleasant to the patient (skin contact, appearance). As was stated above, the back portion and the front portion of the garment may be manufactured of different materials thus optimizing the weight or other properties of the garment. The material of the back portion must be strong enough to provide a stable lifting operation because the weight of the patient is imposed on this part of the garment. Thus, the front portion need not be made of as strong a material. Naturally, also these materials should be pleasant to wear.

Fig. 2 illustrates the use of the lifting means according to the invention. A patient is wearing a garment 2 having legs and sleeve openings. The patient has been lifted to a sitting position on the bed and the supporting straps 20 of the lifting device 18 have been secured in the securing elements, i.e. strap loops 10 and 12. The lifting means according to the invention has four securing points and it is particularly well suitable to be used with lifting apparatus of the kind of the four-point lifting device 18 illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The patient may then be lifted with his back in a remarkably straight position and he is not subjected to an unpleasant hunched position. Due to the correct location of the lifting points, the position of the patient does not change much when the lifting device 18 lifts him up from the bed for the lifting and transfer operation but he remains in a straight sitting position.

Fig. 3 illustrates a preferred alternative of a locking system, comprising in the supporting strap 20 a buckle to be secured in loops 10 and 12. Typically the buckle may be made of metals, e.g. steel, or special plastics. The buckle comprises a hook 32 as one end of its fork-like portion, and a securing pin pivoted in the other end 34 of the fork-like portion and turnable in a plane which allows it to be locked in the hook 32. The securing pin is slipped through the loop 10, 12 and locked then in the hook 32. This opearation may be completed manually or the locking of a partly locked-in pin may be completed automatically by the lifting operation. This kind of a lifting strap buckle enables the patient to secure the lifting strap 20 to the lifting means 2 even with one poorly working hand. In this way, the patient may secure himself to the lifting device without any help; he is wearing the lifting garment, already. The patient can lift and transfer himself if a suitable lifting device is available. This kind of a system is disclosed in patent application no. PCT/FI93/00193.

As described above, no hard counter pieces made of metal or plastics are needed in the lifting garment which would cause pressing injuries to the patient or would be harmful in washing the garment.

The above system of buckles and strap loops may, of course, be replaced, if desired, by a system of male and female securing pieces in which case one of the securing pieces is provided in the backing straps of the garment and the other in the lifting straps in place of the buckle 30. For example, the backings 16, 22 of the garment 2 may be provided with a knob which is inserted in an opening in a metal plate provided in the end of the supporting strap 20, the opening having the form of a keyhole, and the knob locks itself in the tapering end of the opening.

The lifting means according to the invention provides several advantages compared to the systems presently used. The lifting means is a garment to be worn continuously. It is always available and ready for use. The structure of this lifting garment contributes to dividing the weigth in the back and the seat portions, i.e. in a remarkably even way, and thus pressing injuries to the patient are avoided. Securing the garment to the lifting device may be made so simple that even a person suffering from a severe motion handicap (for example muscular atrophy) can take care of himself and does not need help from the nurses all the time.

The details of the invention may vary and be modified from what has been described above as an example, only, without deviating from the inventive concept of the invention defined by the appended patent claims.

Claims

We claim:»

1. A lifting means for lifting and transferring a patient by means of a lifting device (18) having supporting means, such as straps (20) for connecting said lifting means to said lifting device, characterized in that it comprises a garment (2) to be worn continuously by the patient and having a body portion (4) covering the body, leg portions (6), and possibly also sleeve portions, and having in the shoulder region, and in the thigh region at a distance from the knees, securing means (10, 12) for securing the garment to the supporting means (20) of the lifting device.

2. A lifting means according to claim 1, characterized in that during the lifting operation the weigth load caused by the lifting operation is imposed on the back portion and in the seat portion of the garment.

3. A lifting means according to claim 2, characterized in that a first set of strap-like or corresponding backings (16) are provided in the garment to extend from the shoulder line (14) to the back portion like suspenders, and that a second set of strap-like or corresponding backings (22) are provided, extending at least partly around the leg (6) of the garment.

4. A lifting means according to claim 3, characterized in that the the first securing means (10) are provided in the first backings (16) substantially in the region of the shoulder line and that the second securing means (12) are provided in the second backings (22) in the front portion of the leg at an appropriate distance upwards from the knee.

5. A lifting means according to claim 4, characterized in that the securing means comprise a strap loop (10, 12) to be secured to a buckle (30) or a corresponding means provided in the supporting strap (20).

6. A lifting means according to claim 4, characterized in that the securing means comprise a male or a. female piece to be connected to a counter piece provided in the supporting strap of the lifting device.