WO2019081792A1

WO2019081792A1 - Chair for disabled people

Info

Publication number: WO2019081792A1
Application number: PCT/ES2018/070675
Authority: WO
Inventors: Emilio Palacios Hernandez
Original assignee: Palacios Sofas Cb
Priority date: 2017-10-23
Filing date: 2018-10-17
Publication date: 2019-05-02
Also published as: ES2710563B2; ES2710563A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a chair for disabled people which comprises: a bottom frame (1); an elevating and inclining mechanism (2) connected to the frame (1); lateral wheels (7) connected to the bottom of the frame (1), for moving by rolling; and a chair structure connected to the top of the frame (1), with at least lateral armrests (5) placed over the lateral wheels (7), for resting a user's arms. The chair is characterised in that each armrest (5) comprises a bottom section (9) that can be temporarily connected to the top of the frame (1) to partly cover a bottom section of the lateral wheels (7), and a top section (10) connectable to the bottom section (9), for partly covering a top section of the lateral wheels (7).

Description

ARMCHAIR FOR DISABILITIES DESCRIPTION OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention fits into the technical field of personal means of transport specially adapted for the sick or disabled, more specifically in the case of those powered by motor, and refers in particular to an armchair specially designed to accommodate people with physical or mental disabilities. Reduced mobility in a comfortable way.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The transfer of disabled persons, dependent elderly or those with reduced mobility in general is a complicated task to perform even for several people due to the effort involved in moving them, which can cause serious health problems for caregivers, ranging from muscle aches to lumbalgias or hernias that result in sick leave due to this activity.

Currently known in the state of the art transfer cranes that are robust and large and can only be used within the area where the person lives. They also have the disadvantage that they require a lot of space to carry out the transfer, so their use may be restricted to hospitals, residences, etc. Additionally, it should be noted that these cranes can cause unpleasant sensations to the user, which can be treated as an object.

It is also known that there are additional chairs to wheelchairs that serve to carry out the transfer of the disabled person from the wheelchair to the bed in a manual manner, which have two lifting cylinders to place the person at the desired height, a removable backrest of the structure of the chair, which is removed to be able to perform the movement and a sliding seat to place the person as close as possible to the center of the bed.

On the other hand, a plurality of wheelchairs are known in the state of the art. elevators that allow the user to move from a sitting position to a standing position, as well as a vertical ascent when the user is in the sitting or standing position. For this purpose, an ascent device is provided with which the lifting frame can be raised in the sitting position as well as in the standing position. The rise or fall of the sitting or standing level substantially increases the freedom of action of the user of the wheelchair and allows the user to reach objects located on high shelves.

However, these wheelchairs have several disadvantages. They do not allow moving in the standing position, due to the risk of capsizing. Another additional disadvantage of certain wheelchairs is that during the ascent a backward movement also takes place. This can prevent rollover, but makes it difficult or impossible to access objects from high places. A further disadvantage of prior art wheelchairs is their limited ability to move over obstacles or maneuver in a narrow space. Finally, it can be mentioned that in the lifting wheelchairs of the prior art the ascending device requires a lot of space and makes it difficult to access important elements, for example the batteries, of the elevating wheelchair. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention consists of a chair specially designed to accommodate and transfer people with reduced mobility capacity in optimal comfort conditions, for which incorporates side wheels operable both manually by the user, as pushed by a caregiver or even Automated by the incorporation of an electric drive motor of small dimensions.

The armrests of the armchair, which cover the side wheels, are removable, for which they have a lower sector through which they are linked to a supporting lower frame, and a top sector linked to the lower sector, on which the user's arms rest. .

Thus, the decoupling of the upper sector from the lower one of the armrest, allows partially accessing an upper end of the side wheels, so that the user can act on them to move the chair without the need to external help The decoupling of the lower sector from the frame leaves the side wheels completely exposed, as well as reduces the overall width of the chair, allowing it to pass through narrow spaces. In the preferred embodiment of the chair, the total extraction of the armrests gives rise to an armchair with a total width of 57 centimeters, which allows it to pass through all the door openings, thereby improving the user's autonomy.

It also provides for the incorporation of a plurality of auxiliary elements, such as an automatic lifting and tilting mechanism for folding the chair to an essentially horizontal position, as well as for raising the seat and backrest in order to facilitate lifting the user .

The chair for the disabled of the present invention contributes to solve the current problem, because it offers a new way of transporting people with reduced mobility, achieving improvements against everything known up to now and providing quality of life to both carers and users .

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To complement the description that is being made and in order to help a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, according to a preferred example of practical realization thereof, it is accompanied as an integral part of said description, a set of drawings where the following has been represented with an illustrative and non-limiting character:

Figure 1 shows a side perspective view of the chair in vertical position.

Figure 2 shows a front perspective view of the chair in a collapsed position. Figure 3.- Shows a view of the armchair similar to that of figure 2, with its elements disassembled.

Figure 4 .- Shows a side view of the chair disassembled in vertical position.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION A detailed explanation of a preferred embodiment of the object of the present invention is given below, with the help of the aforementioned figures.

The disabled chair described, shown in Figure 1 in its rest position, is formed by a rolling frame (1) provided with a lifting and tilting mechanism (2), frame (1) to which is attached superiorly a Armchair module comprising a seat (3), a backrest (4), side armrests (5) and a footrest (6).

The frame (1), as can be seen in figures 2 to 4, incorporates side wheels (7) for rolling movement as well as auxiliary wheels (8). In this preferred embodiment, the side wheels (7) are of the lenticular type, with a diameter of 45 centimeters and manually operable by the user, and the frame (1), of polygonal geometry with 4 sides, has four wheels (8) located in the respective vertices.

The armrests (5) which, as seen in the attached figures, cover the side wheels (7), are removable, for which they have a lower sector (9) through which they are linked to the frame (1) and a sector upper (10) linked to the lower sector (9) by coupling corresponding guides not shown in the attached figures.

In this way, the decoupling of the upper sector (10) from the lower sector (9) of the armrest (5), upper sector (10) on which a user directly supports his arms, allows partially accessing an upper end of the wheels lateral (7), so that the user can act on them to move the chair without the need for external help. The uncoupling of the lower sector (9) of the armrest (5) with respect to the frame (1) completely exposes the side wheels (7), as well as reduces the overall width of the chair, allowing it to pass through narrow spaces.

In this preferred embodiment, the total extraction of the armrests gives rise to an armchair with a total width of 57 centimeters, which allows it to pass through all the door openings, thereby improving the user's autonomy. In this preferred embodiment, the lower sector (9) is linked to the frame by coupling guides (101) that depart vertically from said frame (1), as seen in figures 3 and 4, inside transverse grooves defined in said lower sector (9).

The lifting and tilting mechanism (2), driven by an electric motor (11), is coupled to the rolling frame (1). Thus, this lifting and tilting mechanism (2) first allows the folding of the backrest (4) and the footrest (6) to obtain an essentially horizontal user position similar to that illustrated in figures 2 and 3 and, in second place, raise and push the seat (3) forward to facilitate the incorporation of the user, as shown in Figure 4.

To that end, said lifting and tilting mechanism (2) has an actuator that initially drives articulated arms (12) at the same time, linkable to the footrest (6) for its extension and retraction, and rear oscillating arms (13), linkable to the backrest (4) for its despondency and disengagement. The simultaneous and synchronized action of both arms (12,13) results in obtaining an essentially horizontal position of the user. Secondly, with the chair in the rest position of figure 1, the actuator of the lifting and tilting mechanism (2) drives a hydraulic piston (14) connectable to the backrest (4) which, in combination with the oscillating arms ( 13), push upwards to raise the backrest (4) and the seat (3) as illustrated in figure 4, in order to facilitate the incorporation of the user.

In the preferred embodiment described here and illustrated in the attached figures, the seat (3) is of a conventional type, with a foam and upholstery filling, and can be attached to the frame (1) by corresponding fixing means. In Figure 3 there are some strips (15) that have a plurality of through holes (16) for coupling said seat (3) through a corresponding plurality of fixing screws.

In an alternative embodiment, not shown in Figures 1-4, the seat (3), also removable from the frame (1), incorporates a through hole to a removable tank designed to temporarily accommodate the user's stools. The incorporation of ear flaps (17) linked laterally to an upper end of the backrest (4) is also contemplated. In the preferred embodiment, the ear flaps (17) displace by folding down with respect to said backrest (4) by means of ratchet-type hinges. Also, in the alternative embodiment indicated above, the backrest (4) incorporates a hinged cover (18), for access to the removable tank.

The operation of the chair for the disabled can therefore be carried out by the user himself, who can have access to the side wheels (7) by removing an upper section (10) of the armrests, or by a third party, who can push said armrests. armchair to be moved by rolling.

Claims

1. Wheelchair for the disabled, comprising:

- a lower frame (1),

- a lifting and tilting mechanism (2) linked to the frame (1), which in turn:

- articulated arms (12) front,

- swinging arms (13) rear,

- a hydraulic piston (14), and

- an electric motor (11) for actuation,

- side wheels (7) linked inferiorly to the frame (1), for traveling by rolling, and

- an armchair structure linked superiorly to the frame (1), which in turn comprises at least:

- a seat (3) linked to the piston (14) for longitudinal ascending and descending movement,

- a backrest (4) linked to the oscillating arms (13) for abatement,

- a footrest (6) linked to the articulated arms (12) for expansion and retraction, and

- lateral armrests (5), superimposed on the side wheels (7), for rest of the arms of a user,

the chair being characterized in that each one of the armrests (5) comprises in turn:

- a lower sector (9) that can be attached temporarily and superiorly to the frame (1) for partially covering a lower sector of the side wheels (7), and,

- an upper sector (10) connectable to the lower sector (9), for partial covering of an upper sector of the side wheels (7).

2. Armchair for the disabled according to claim 1, characterized in that:

- the frame (1) incorporates guides (101) that split superiorly, and

- the lower sector (9) of the armrests (5) has transversal grooves designed to house the guides (101) for temporary connection with the frame (1).

3. Wheelchair for the disabled according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the frame (1) incorporates horizontal strips (15) for Seat coupling (3).

Armchair for the disabled according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the frame (1) incorporates rollers (8).

5. Armchair for the disabled according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the armchair structure incorporates ear flaps (17) linked laterally to an upper end of the backrest (4).

6. Armchair for the disabled according to claim 5, characterized in that the earmuffs (17) are foldable.