Abstract:
A movement aid suitable for use by disabled persons comprises a track, a trolley moveable along the track, a handle suspended from the trolley and a braking system for controlling and stopping movement of the trolley along the track.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention concerns a movement aid suitable for use by disabled persons, in particular those temporarily or permanently confined to wheelchairs. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Electrically operated hoists are available for enabling individuals to lift themselves or to be lifted, but these are not really suitable for enabling general movement from one location to another. For example, present hoists do not provide lateral movement in getting into or out of bed, into and out of a bath, gaining access to a w.c., or getting into or out of a motor vehicle. 
     An object of this invention is to provide a movement aid suitable for use by disabled persons. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to this invention there is provided a movement aid suitable for use by disabled persons comprising a track, a trolley moveable along the track, a handle suspended from the trolley and a braking system for controlling and stopping movement of the trolley along the track. 
     The track preferably provides a pair of flanges on which are supported wheels or castors of the trolley for movement along the track. The flanges may extend outwards from a beam or may extend inwards from sides of a channel section beam. 
     The handle is preferably connected to the trolley via a strap, chain or the like and preferably by means of a chain and strap. 
     The braking system is preferably a caliper braking system, such as of the type provided on bicycles. The calipers are preferably arranged so that brake pads thereon act on the track when the brakes are applied. Operation of the braking system is preferably by means of a brake lever mounted on the handle and connected to the calipers by a wire, cable or the like. 
     The movement aid of the invention may be used in a variety of situations to enable individuals to lift themselves and to move themselves from place to place when in a wheelchair. For example, the track could be sited for assistance in getting into and out of bed, into and out of a bath, to gain access to a w.c. and for getting into and out of a motor vehicle. The movement aid of the invention could be sited in various public places, such as, for example, spinal injury units, physiotherapy departments, nursing homes, hospital wards and disabled toilets. 
     This invention will now be further described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a movement aid mounted to a ceiling; 
     FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a castor for the movement aid of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a side view of part of the movement aid assembly of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 4 is a front view of the same part of the movement aid assembly as shown in FIG.  3 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the accompanying drawings, a movement aid  10  for use by disabled persons, by which is meant both those who are permanently or temporarily incapacitated, is shown mounted to a ceiling  12 . The ceiling  12  is supported by joists  14  and the joists themselves take the weight of the movement aid. 
     The lifting aid comprises a track  16  mounted to the ceiling by means of bolts  18  through the track and spreader plates  20  across a pair of adjacent joists  14 . The track  16  is a channel section member having inwardly extending flanges  22  on which a trolley  24  travels. The trolley  24  comprises a U-shaped member  26  having a base  28  and sides  30  and a pair of axles  32  through the sides of the member  26  and carrying nylon castors  34  at each end, which run on the flanges  22  of the track  16 . 
     Secured through the base  28  of the U-shaped member  26  is an eye bolt  36 . On either side of its “eye”, the bolt has welded thereto plates  38  with aligned holes  40  through which is fitted a spindle  42 . The spindle  42  carries a caliper brake assembly  44  arranged so that brake pads  46  on upper ends of arms  48 ,  49  of the caliper brake assembly are positioned to bear on the sides of track  16 , when the brake assembly is operated. 
     The plates  38  are positioned on the eye bolt to leave a gap between their bottom edges and the eye of the eye bolt, so that a support chain  50  can be fixed to the eye bolt. The chain  50  has a length adjustable webbing strap  52  attached to its bottom end and the strap  52  has on its bottom end a handle  54 . The webbing strap  52  is provided with a buckle  56  so that its length can be altered to suit the user. 
     The caliper arms  48 ,  49  are pivotally mounted on the spindle  42  and their brake ends are biased apart by means of a spring (not shown) on the spindle and acting on both caliper arms. The respective bottom ends  58  and  60  of the arms of the caliper are arranged to be one above the other. The uppermost caliper end  58  is connected to a brake cable  62  and the cable extends through a sleeve  63  in the lowermost caliper arm  60  to a brake lever (not shown) mounted on the handle  54 . The brake system is operated by pulling on the brake lever to draw the cable towards the handle and hence pull downwards the caliper end  58 , which causes the brake pad of that caliper arm to act on the track side. The spring between the caliper arms equalises the movement of the caliper arms, so that at the same time the brake pad of the other caliper arm is urged onto the opposite side of the track, so that both brake pads exert a braking action to slow down or stop movement of the trolley, and hence of the movement aid along the track. 
     Thus, the movement aid  10  can be used simply for a person to lift themselves up by pulling on the handle, whilst at the same time operating the brake. On the other hand movement along the track is also possible by flicking the trolley along the track using the chain/strap, then applying the brake and pulling on the handle to move the user along the track. This is particularly useful for those confined to wheelchairs. It is believed that the weight of the chain is important in providing sufficient momentum for the trolley to move along the track but such weight could be provided by other suitable means.