Abstract:
Apparatus usable in a hospital, nursing home and assisted care facility environment to assist physically impaired persons in sitting down and standing up from a toilet including a frame having a rotatable platform incorporating an integral toilet seat rollable into position above the bowl of a toilet whose seat is raised for use.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     NONE  
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Research and development of this invention and Application have not been federally sponsored, and no rights are given under any Federal program.  
       REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX  
       [0003]     NOT APPLICABLE  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0005]     The present invention relates to apparatus for assisting physically impaired persons in sitting down and standing up from a toilet, in general, and to a powerized toilet seat lift usable in a hospital, nursing home and assisted care facility environment, in particular.  
         [0006]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0007]     As will be appreciated, persons having severe arthritis of the hip or knee, or a severe neuromuscular disease such as muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis and muscle weakness due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis often require physical assistance in the bathroom, transitioning between seated and upright positions. As will also be appreciated, those suffering from advanced Parkinson&#39;s Disease, Guillian Barre or hemiparesis likewise require assistance to decease the stress on the hips and knees in these positionings.  
         [0008]     Several types of powerized toilet seat lift devices have been proposed to deal with this—generally operating through a combined system of an air compressor and an air exhaust valve, controlled by the user. Common to all of them is a design intended to promote an independence of operation for the user, while reducing stress on the joints involved. Typical of these devices are those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,661,858, 5,819,325, and 6,154,896.  
         [0009]     While these patented designs may well serve their described purposes, by-and-large, they are each intended primarily for independent use, in the home. The power-assisted toilet seat lift of U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,896, for example, is described as being a “heavy duty” assembly employing a stationary frame. The toilet seat lift of U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,325, on the other hand, is fixed to a floor surrounding the toilet and to a back wall—while the power seat lift of U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,858 is one in which its main components are also fixedly attached.  
         [0010]     As will be readily understood, however, power toilet-seat lift arrangements are very oftentimes required in a hospital, nursing home and assisted care facility, where concern extends to not only meet the needs of the disabled, but to satisfy OSHA regulations by helping to prevent back injuries to the Caregiver. In particular, a design would be quite beneficial if it enables less staff to be used in transferring a patient, while being one which could easily be moved from room-to-room, from floor-to-floor, for different patient use. Ease of operational use is also an absolute necessity for this as well, as it cannot be expected that maintenance personnel or nursing staff are to bolt or otherwise secure the toilet seat lift apparatus to be effective. Such ability to move the toilet seat lift about, of necessity, requires that it not be overly bulky or heavy, but continue to be one which affords a large lifting characteristic. An ability to accomplish this not only protects the Caregiver, but significantly lessens any claims for compensable work injuries that might follow, thereby reducing insurance costs.  
         [0011]     As even a brief reading of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,661,858, 5,819,325 and 6,154,896 will show, the devices there described exhibit a degree of complexity which it would be desirable to simplify—if only to assure reliability of operation. The numerous linkages which there provide vertical translation, horizontal translation and rotation in general to the powerized seat have been analyzed to be subject to extensive breakdown. What would be desirable, instead, would be a powerized toilet seat which could easily be moved about as a portable unit, while still continuing to be able to assist the handicapped person back to their feet after use. One which would also allow easy cleaning of the seat afterwards would be particularly attractive, as would be one which could be controlled by a user-patient or by the Caregiver-staff, while continuing to maintain the powerized toilet seat apparatus fast to the floor as the toileting progresses. This last feature will be seen to protect the user-patient from accidental injury.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     As will become clear from the following description, the powerized toilet seat lift of the invention is a roll-about unit incorporating a frame with rubberized feet to rest upon the floor when being used, while having appropriate wheels or casters at one end upon which the lift could be moved. A pair of handles at the top of the frame remote from the wheels or casters enable tilting of the frame for rolling simply by lifting up and pushing or pulling. Through the use of an electric control, a motor, a linear actuator and a simple pivot configuration, a toilet seat integrally incorporated within a support platform could be raised or lowered in assisting a user-patient in getting up from the seat, with either or both of the seat and platform being removable for cleansing. An on-off control is effective in starting and stopping the included motor in operating the actuator, and can be coupled at the frame itself or stretched therefrom as a type of remote control unit for the Caregiver-staff attending the patient. As will be seen, in the lowered position, the platform is dimensioned to slide its seat over the bowl of a toilet whose own seat is raised for toileting to begin. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]     These and other features of the present invention will be more clearly understood from a consideration of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0014]      FIGS. 1 and 2  are pictorial views of a roll-about powerized toilet seat lift constructed in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0015]      FIGS. 3, 4  and  5  are left, right and top views of the lift of  FIGS. 1 and 2  helpful in an understanding of its operation; and  
         [0016]      FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b  illustrate a manner of coupling the platform and its seat to the lift&#39;s frame, in a utilization of its workings. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     In the Drawings, the apparatus of the invention to assist a handicapped person in this manner is intended for employment when using a toilet having a raisable toilet seat. The apparatus includes a frame  11  having left and right sides  10 ,  12  upwardly extending from individual ones of a pair of support legs  14  running front to back. Each side is in the form of a substantially U-shaped member  16 , between the two of which a first transverse bar  18  extends from left-to-right at the rear of the frame. Similar transverse bars  20  extend along the U-shaped member  16  front-to-back, in respectively supporting a pair of shelves  22  thereupon. Such shelves  22  are apertured, as at  24 , to receive a further transverse bar  26  arranged generally parallel to the transverse bar  18 , and generally co-planar with it. Adjustable pairs of feet  28  extend downwardly from each of the support legs  14  for resting the frame on a floor surface. A pair of wheels, casters or similar such mechanisms  30  rearwardly projecting from the support legs  14  allow the frame to be rolled about upon being pushed. To facilitate this, a pair of handles  32  project forwardly from individual ones of the U-shaped members  16 . These handles  32  allow for a lifting of the frame  11 , and for a pushing of it rearwardly about the surfaces afforded by the rollers  30 . As will be appreciated, the frame members may be constructed of aluminum or tubular steel. A pair of armrests  34  are included atop the frame for user comfort once the frame is moved into position. A further bar  27  between the legs  14  adds stability to the frame  11 .  
         [0018]     In accordance with the invention, a platform incorporating an integral toilet seat is included to span between the left and right sides  10 ,  12  of the frame. The platform, shown at  40 , is of a depth to rest upon the rear transverse bar  18  and to couple with the transverse bar  26  when in a horizontal, or lowered position, as in  FIG. 1 . The integral toilet seat shown at  42  likewise is then in a horizontal plane, to be sat upon. As will be appreciated, the frame and the platform  40  are selected of a depth to align the integral toilet seat  42  over the bowl of the toilet with its toilet seat raised once the frame is rolled into its appropriate position for use.  
         [0019]     To rotate the platform upwardly to assist the handicapped person in getting up from the toilet seat  42 , a motor  50  and a linear actuator  52  are utilized, along with a single linkage  54  coupled with the transverse bar  26 . In the quiescent position of  FIG. 1  and in the left-side schematic view of  FIG. 3  with the motor off, the motor  50 , the actuator  52  and the linkage  54  cooperate to place the transverse bar  26  in position to retain the platform  40  in its horizontal orientation while the toilet is being used. With a powering of the motor  50 , the linear actuator  52  and the linkage  54  cooperate to rotate the transverse bar  26  in raising the platform  40  from back to front to the position shown in  FIG. 2  and in the schematic right side view of  FIG. 4 —typically to  45 . Energization of the motor  50  is by way of a momentary on-off power switch  60  coupled with one of the left and right U-shape frame members  16  working through an electrical control box  62 . Such switch  60  may be at the end of a coiled electrical line  64  to allow a nurse, for example, to assist the handicapped person by himself/herself energizing the motor from a spaced distance. This rotation of the platform  40  will be seen to be in a direction to assist the user-patient in getting off from the toilet with a minimum of stress on the hips and knees.  
         [0020]     Once the apparatus of the invention has thus been utilized and the handicapped person relocated, the apparatus can simply be pulled away from the toilet by means of the handles  32 , which can then be easily lifted in turning the frame about, and moving the apparatus to the next location for use. With the simple linkage employed for rotating the platform  40  and its integral toilet seat  42 , a compact, lightweight construction can be had to facilitate this moving, and even to pull or push the apparatus up, or down, a flight of stairs to the next location where its use is required. In such manner, the apparatus of the invention is particularly useful for use in a hospital, nursing home or assisted care facility.  
         [0021]     While  FIG. 5  illustrates a top view of the frame  11  with the platform  40  in its lowered position,  FIG. 6  shows one manner of coupling the platform  40  with the rotatable transverse bar  26 . A pair of projections  70  rearwardly extend from the bar  26  to couple with a pair of forwardly extending channels  72  or receptacles at an underside  74  of the platform  40 . Such arrangement is particularly useful for detaching the platform  40  from the transverse bar  26  to facilitate a separate cleaning of the platform  40  and its integral seat  42  where multiple patient use is of concern. As will be appreciated, numbers of projections or channel receptacles other than pairs may be employed in this regard—with the platform  40  again being of aluminum or steel construction, with the integral toilet seat  42  being of plastic.  
         [0022]     While there have been described what are considered to be preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the teachings herein. Whether wheels or casters are employed as the rollers  30 , and whether the rotation of the platform  40  is accomplished through the simple linkage configuration of  FIGS. 1-4  or of the more complex arrangements described in the prior art, for example, the apparatus of the invention will be seen to continue with the only requirement being that the platform  40  be able to be positioned at the proper height above an existing toilet whose seat has been raised, and be of a depth to overlie its bowl, being moveable into appropriate position before use. Similarly, the on-off power switch  60  could be oriented with respect to the frame members  16  for foot control of the electrical control box  62  as well as for hand control, whichever may be desired. With the platform rotation of the invention or with the more complicated ones of the prior art, the end result will still be an ability to assist a handicapped person in using a toilet. For at least such reason, therefore, resort should be had to the claims appended hereto for a true understanding of the scope of the invention.