IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO BATHS

Abstract: A bath comprising a bath tub, a raisable stand at each of opposite sides of the bath tub, a seat suspended from and between the stands, and actuation means for raising and lowering the stands simultaneously so as to raise and lower the seat with respect to the bath tub.

Description: IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO BATHS The present invention relates to baths. Regular immersion in warm water is beneficial for persons of all ages, but particularly for the elderly and infirm. However, getting into and out of a seated position in a bath is particularly difficult for the elderly and those who for any reason are of below average strength and agility. For such persons, raising oneself up from a position in which the buttocks and feet are at the same level may well be difficult from any surface, but within the narrow confines of a household bath is likely to be well nigh impossible. This problem has been appreciated for some time and many solutions have been proposed. One proposed construction includes a seat which can be hydraulically raised and lowered on a column and swung between a position outside the bath tub and a position within the bath tub. By means of such a seat an attendant can seat a person at a position externally of the bath tub, raise the person, swing the person over the bath tub, and lower the person into the bath tub so that the seat stops close to the bottom of the bath tub and the person can bathe. Another proposed construction includes a powered expanding actuator located beneath a seat in a bath tub, with a person stepping into the bath, sitting on the seat, being lowered into the water and after bathing being raised again. Apart from the relatively high cost of such constructions, these constructions have the signifciant disadvantage that the seat has to be of significant depth and the depth of the seat reduces the extent of immersion of the person in the water such that only a limited part of the person can be immersed or a very large quantity of water is required. Bath constructions have also been proposed which include a step in the bottom surface on which a person can be seated with the feet lower than the buttocks, and a door in a side wall of the bath tub which is openable inwardly or outwardly to allow the person access to the bath tub. Large quantities of water are, however, required for an acceptable level of immersion. Furthermore, there is a significant risk of water leakage and the person using the bath must remain in the bath for prolonged periods during filling and emptying. Other proposed constructions include a roller arrangement provided on one side of the bath tub with a strip of flexible material wound around the roller and having its free end attached to the other side of the bath tub or the floor at the side of the bath. In use, a person steps into the bath, seats himself or herself on the strip of material and then energises the roller to allow himself or herself to be lowered into the bath tub until the strip of material rests on the bottom of the bath tub. This construction overcomes the problem of requiring the base of the seat to have a substantial thickness, but is inconvenient to use since, as the strip of material unwinds, the person must shift sidewardly towards the roller so as always to be centred in the width of the bath tub. On reversing the direction of rotation of the roller to effect a powered rewind to raise the person from the bath, the person must again shift sidewardly on the strip of material, in this case towards the fixed end, as the strip is retracted. Further proposed constructions include inflatable cushions which can be deflated after a person is seated thereon to lower the person into the bath tub and then re-inflated to raise the person up again. A significant problem of this construction is that the user must position himself or herself exactly in order to avoid unbalancing the inflatable cushion which would lead to the user being tended to be thrown off the inflatable cushion. Other bath constructions have been proposed, but all have one or other of the disadvantages outlined above. Accordingly, the present invention provides a bath comprising a bath tub, a raisable stand at each of opposite sides of the bath tub, a seat suspended from and between the stands, and actuation means for raising and lowering the stands simultaneously so as to raise and lower the seat with respect to the bath tub. Preferably, the seat is in the form of a sling. Preferably, each of the stands is of tubular construction and has an inverted U-shape with two vertical uprights joined by a generally horizontal upper member. More preferably, the two uprights of each stand extend through a horizontal flange at the upper edge of the bath tub and are mounted in bearings in a cradle frame located beneath the bath tub. Still more preferably, the cradle frame comprises a generally vertical framework at each side of the bath tub and horizontal members joining the lower edges of the frameworks. Preferably, the actuation means comprises an actuator provided centrally of the width of the bath tub for moving a spreader longitudinally of and beneath the bath tub, first and second bell-crank levers at respective sides of the bath tub coupled to opposite ends of the spreader, the bell-crank levers being pivoted at one end to a respective one of the frameworks and coupled at the other end to a bottom end of a respective one of the stands such as in operation to raise and lower the stands. In a preferred embodiment the actuator is of the motor-driven screw type. Preferably, the upper end of each stand is positioned so as to provide a steadying handhold at an elevated position to assist a person using the bath to step into and out of the bath tub. Preferably, the seat is configured so as to be readily engageable and disengageable from the upper ends of the stands to facilitate cleaning thereof and permit removal thereof so that the bath can be readily used by persons who do not require assistance. More preferably, the seat is formed of a moulded plastics material and comprises a seat portion and side members extending upwardly therefrom, with the upper end of each side member being formed as an inverted cup to engage over the upper end of the respective stand. Still more preferably, at least one of the inverted cups has opposite end walls and includes an aperture in one of the end walls to receive a projection on the respective stand to locate the side member of the seat with respect to the stand. In a preferred embodiment the aperture is in the rearward end wall. In a particularly preferred embodiment each of the inverted cups has opposite end walls and includes an aperture. Preferably, the bath tub includes a door for providing walk-in access. Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described hereinbelow by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of a bath in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, with the seat in the raised position; Figure 2 illustrates a side elevational view of the bath of Figure 1, with the seat supporting stands in the lowered position and the bath tub and seat removed; Figure 3 illustrates a fragmentary side elevational view of the bath of Figure 1 , with the seat supporting stands in the raised position and the bath tub and seat removed; Figure 4 illustrates a perspective view of the bath of Figure 1 , with the seat supporting stands in the raised position a side panel and the seat removed; Figures 5a and 5b illustrate perspective views from opposite ends of the engagement of the seat with the upper ends of the seat supporting stands; Figure 6 illustrates a perspective view of a bath in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, with the seat in the raised position and the door in the closed position; and Figure 7 illustrates a perspective view of the bath of Figure 6, with the seat in the raised position and the door in the open position. Figure 1 illustrates a bath in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. The bath comprises a bath tub 1 of generally standard construction, first and second raisable and lowerable stands 2 at opposite sides of the bath tub 1 , and a seat 3 supported between the stands 2 which is raised and lowered by raising and lowering the stands 2. Each of the stands 2 comprises a pair of spaced tubular members 4, 5, with one of the tubular members 5 being bent over at an upper end to form a horizontal portion 5a, which is secured to the upper end of the other tubular member 4, and a projecting end portion 5b. The tubular members 4, 5 extend downwardly through apertures in a generally horizontal flange 6 at the upper edge of the bath tub 1 into a space beneath the bath tub 1. The bath further comprises a cradle frame 7 located beneath the bath tub 1 which comprises a pair of vertical frameworks 8 joined by transverse interconnecting members 9 at floor level. The upper edges of each of the frameworks 8 include bearings (not illustrated) in which the tubular members 4, 5 are slideably mounted. The lower ends of the tubular members 4, 5 of each stand 2 are connected together by a respective joining member 10 located below the bearings such that raising the joining members 10 raises the respective stands 2 from the lowered position of Figure 2 to the raised position of Figure 3. The joining members 10 are coupled to respective bell-crank levers 11 such as to be raised or lowered on operation of the same. In this embodiment the bell-crank levers 11 each comprise a triangular plate having a first pivot connection 12 to the respective joining member 10, a second pivot connection 13 to the respective side member 8 of the cradle frame 7 and a third pivot connection 14 to a spreader 15. The spreader 15 is coupled to a linear actuator 16 which preferably comprises a rotary screw and nut arrangement driven by an electric motor powered by battery, for example a 24 volt battery. A control arrangement for stopping and starting the motor in either a forward or reverse direction is advantageously provided at a position such as to be operable by a person in the bath, advantageously at the end of a flexible lead. In operation, the seat 3 can be raised and lowered by actuation of the linear actuator 16. By energising the linear actuator 16 in one direction, the spreader 15 is moved rightwardly, as viewed in Figures 2 and 3, to cause the bell-crank levers 11 to rotate anticlockwise about the second pivots 13 and raise the first pivots 12 and hence the joining members 10 from the lowered position of Figure 2 to the raised position of Figure 3, thereby raising the stands 2 and hence the seat 3 from the lowered position of Figure 2 to the raised position of Figures 1, 3 and 4. As will be understood, energising the linear actuator 16 in the opposite direction causes the seat 3 to be lowered from the raised position to the lowered position. The seat 3 is preferably formed of a stiff moulded plastics material and comprises a base portion 17 and upstanding side portions 18. The base portion 17 and the side portions 18 are formed of sheet material, typically of 10 mm or less in thickness. At the upper end of each side member 18, the sheet material is turned over and downwardly to form an inverted cup-like top piece 19 having opposed end walls 20. The cup-like top pieces 19 engage over the upper ends of the respective stands 2, and, as can be seen in Figures 1 and 5b, one, the rearward, of the end walls 20 has an aperture 21 therein through which the respective end projection 5b of the stand 2 projects so as positively to locate the side member 18 with respect to the stand 2. The seat 3 can thus simply be clipped onto the stands 2 and undipped therefrom. Figures 6 and 7 illustrate a bath in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. This bath is very similar to that of the bath of the above-described first embodiment, and thus, in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of description, only the differences will be described in detail, with like parts being designated by like reference signs. This bath differs only in that the bath tub 1 includes a door 23. As will be appreciated, the provision of a door 23 allows for walk-in access. Compared with previous proposals the baths as illustrated and described can be very simple and inexpensive to manufacture and convenient to use. Finally, it will be understood that the present invention has been described in its preferred embodiments and can be modified in many different ways without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A bath comprising a bath tub, a raisable stand at each of opposite sides of the bath tub, a seat suspended from and between the stands, and actuation means for raising and lowering the stands simultaneously so as to raise and lower the seat with respect to the bath tub. 2. A bath according to claim 1 , wherein the seat is in the form of a sling. 3. A bath according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the stands is of tubular construction and has an inverted U-shape with two vertical uprights joined by a generally horizontal upper member. 4. A bath according to claim 3, wherein the two uprights of each stand extend through a horizontal flange at the upper edge of the bath tub and are mounted in bearings in a cradle frame located beneath the bath tub. 5. A bath according to claim 4, wherein the cradle frame comprises a generally vertical framework at each side of the bath tub and horizontal members joining the lower edges of the frameworks. 6. A bath according to claim 5, wherein the actuation means comprises an actuator provided centrally of the width of the bath tub for moving a spreader longitudinally of and beneath the bath tub, first and second bell-crank levers at respective sides of the bath tub coupled to opposite ends of the spreader, the bell-crank levers being pivoted at one end to a respective one of the frameworks and coupled at the other end to a bottom end of a respective one of the stands such as in operation to raise and lower the stands. 7. A bath according to claim 6, wherein the actuator is of the motor-driven screw type. 8. A bath according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the upper end of each stand is positioned so as to provide a steadying handhold at an elevated position to assist a person using the bath to step into and out of the bath tub. 9. A bath according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the seat is configured so as to be readily engageable and disengageable from the upper ends of the stands to facilitate cleaning thereof and permit removal thereof so that the bath can be readily used by persons who do not require assistance. 10. A bath according to claim 9, wherein the seat is formed of a moulded plastics material and comprises a seat portion and side members extending upwardly therefrom, with the upper end of each side member being formed as an inverted cup to engage over the upper end of the respective stand. 11. A bath according to claim 10, wherein at least one of the inverted cups has opposite end walls and includes an aperture in one of the end walls to receive a projection on the respective stand to locate the side member of the seat with respect to the stand. 12. A bath according to claim 11, wherein the aperture is in the rearward end wall. 13. A bath according to claim 11 or 12, wherein each of the inverted cups has opposite end walls and includes an aperture. 14. A bath according to any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the bath tub includes a door for providing walk-in access.

Inventors: METCALF RAYMOND, METCALF, RAYMOND
Applicants: METCALF RAYMOND, METCALF, RAYMOND
Application year: 2000
Main classification: A61G7
IPC codes: A61G7