Beds – With means for relocating an invalid – With a hoisting – lifting – elevating – or raising device
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-02
2001-02-27
Trettel, Michael F. (Department: 3628)
Beds
With means for relocating an invalid
With a hoisting, lifting, elevating, or raising device
C005S08110R, C005S629000, C280S304100, C297SDIG001
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192533
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to chairs, generally but not exclusively wheel-chairs, for use by the handicapped and by invalids, and it is equally applicable to folding wheel-chairs and to non-folding wheel-chairs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There is no doubt that wheel-chairs have given mobility to the handicapped and to invalids. Nevertheless, such wheel-chairs suffer from various drawbacks due to the fact that their users can occupy a sitting position only, which position is also generally maintained for relatively long periods of time.
Such a position is unsuitable for providing readaptation to ordinary life and it does not facilitate social contacts. In addition, when a sitting position is maintained for relatively long periods of time, it causes physical deterioration, such as the loss of angular amplitude in the lower limbs, defective blood circulation, slowing down of the digestive and intestinal functions, bone fragility, etc.
To remedy the above drawbacks, proposals have been made for chairs each having a chassis that supports a hinged structure comprising a seat back, a seat, and a footrest. Such a structure is mounted in hinged relationship to the seat on a front horizontal axis, extending perpendicularly to the vertical plane of symmetry of the chassis. The hinged structure can be controlled with full motorization or with motorization for power assistance to cause the seat to pass from a low position to a high position, and vice versa. Such chairs are often referred to as “verticalizing chairs”.
Regardless of whether the source of power that controls raising and lowering of the hinged structure or that enables it to be controlled is based on electricity, or on elastic actuators, in particular gas actuators, or is purely manual, chairs of the above type have certainly made it possible to a large extent to solve the drawbacks that stem from using a conventional chair.
That is doubtless why such chairs have been such a success over several years. By way of reference, mention can be made of French patent FR 2 529 456 which specifically relates to a design for such a verticalizing chair.
Although they give satisfaction, it appears that such chairs give rise to objections concerning comfort relating in particular to the nature of the hinged structure for raising and lowering the invalid or handicapped person in a position of maximum safety.
Account needs to be taken of the hinged nature of the structure which is capable of passing from a traditional seated position to an elevated or verticalizing position in which the various segments making up the structure are substantially in alignment one after another, in a pseudo-vertical direction.
To satisfy anatomic requirements in the various positions that can be occupied, the hinged structure is made up of a seat element, a back element, and a footrest element which must therefore be capable of taking up one relative position that is generally of the seated type and another relative position in which they are placed in line with one another in the verticalizing position.
Although they give satisfaction, such elevating chairs give rise to a drawback in use that stems directly from their structure.
As a general rule, the footrest assembly is situated in front of the front plane of the chassis by an amount which naturally varies in use, depending on whether the hinged structure is in its low position or in its verticalization position.
Such a disposition gives rise to problems of use, given that the overall front-to-back dimensions can vary to a considerable extent between these two positions.
In addition, it appears that the assembly constituting the footrest is made up of one or more projecting vertical portions corresponding to uprights or leg portions for supporting one or more footrest-constituting flaps.
This forward projection of the uprights constitutes an obstacle that impedes transferring the handicapped user of a verticalizing chair to some other person-receiving structure, or vice versa.
Furthermore, when the load-carrying structure of the footrest is formed by an upright disposed more particularly in the sagittal plane of symmetry of the chair, the rigid assembly constituting it is necessarily placed between the inert legs of the subject and then, specifically because of the lack of feeling that the lower limbs generally present, it represents an obstacle or a presence that is responsible for the risk of bruising to a greater or lesser extent that ought to be avoided.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to propose improvements to an elevating chair for the handicapped and invalids, and more particularly improvements to the structure of the footrest so as to overcome the above drawbacks.
The proposed improvements seek to reduce the space occupied in front, to reduce obstacles to transfer, and to be suitable for fitting to footrest structures regardless of whether they include a central supporting upright or else two side uprights, as is generally the case in present elevating chair structures.
The improvements of the invention also seek to provide relatively simple adaptation of present chair structures, without requiring fundamental structural modifications that would require a new overall structure of the chassis or of the hinged structure carried by such a chair to be reconsidered, redesigned, and rebuilt.
To achieve the above objects, the invention provides an elevator chair for the handicapped and invalids, the chair comprising a chassis supporting a hinged structure made up of a seat, a footrest, and a back, such a structure comprising:
a first assembly in the form of a deformable quadrilateral contributing to supporting the seat, made up of top and bottom bars hinged to the front portion of the chassis substantially in a front plane and linked towards their rear portions by spacer pieces;
a second assembly in the form of a deformable quadrilateral contributing to supporting the footrest and linking the chassis to the first assembly;
a back frame hinged to the first assembly, at its end opposite from the second assembly; and
a drive assembly interposed between the deformable first assembly and the chassis and performing a pivot-controlling function so as to cause the hinged structure to pass from a low position to an elevated position in which the seat, the footrest, and the back are substantially in alignment on a pseudo-vertical direction, and vice versa.
In such a chair the second assembly is disposed at least in part behind the front plane and is linked to the first assembly by at least one reversible actuation and coupling rod, itself set back from the front plane and beneath the plane defined by the seat in its low position.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3138402 (1964-06-01), Heyl, Jr. et al.
patent: 4076304 (1978-02-01), Deucher
patent: 4231614 (1980-11-01), Shaffer
patent: 4519649 (1985-05-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 4569556 (1986-02-01), Pilot
patent: 4623194 (1986-11-01), PILLOT
patent: 4637652 (1987-01-01), Bergenwall
patent: 5108202 (1992-04-01), Smith
patent: 5556121 (1996-09-01), Pillot
patent: 5772226 (1998-06-01), Bobichon
patent: 0146660 (1985-07-01), None
patent: 0231718 (1987-08-01), None
patent: 2529456 (1984-01-01), None
patent: 2545718 (1984-11-01), None
patent: 2553650 (1985-04-01), None
patent: 1264969 (1972-02-01), None
patent: 2120537 (1983-12-01), None
patent: 8201314 (1982-04-01), None
V. P. Agrawal, et al., “Optimisation of a chair mechanism for partially disabled people for sitting-standing and sitting-lying motions”, Medical & Biolical Engineering & Computing, vol. 17, No. 5, Sep. 1979, pp. 671-682.
Dennison, Scheiner Schultz & Wakeman
I.D.C. Medical
Trettel Michael F.
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