Stand-up unit for stand-up wheelchairs and chairs, particularly therapy chairs

Abstract

The stand-up unit comprises a support a stand-up frame, which is articulated on the support and has a seat carrier carrying a seat, and a backrest carrier carrying a backrest. Furthermore, a first lever parallelogram is provided in order to maintain the backrest upright in any position. The backrest can be displaced by the first lever parallelogram by means of a rod, in order to ensure that no undesirable relative movement occurs between the backrest and the back of the user when getting up or sitting down. A second lever parallelogram controls the movement of the seat when getting up and sitting down to ensure that no relative movement develops between the seat and buttocks of the user. The stand-up unit may be provided with a base to serve as a chair, particularly a therapy chair. The stand-up unit, however, may also serve as a stand-up wheelchair, when connected to an undercarriage. Spring joint elements support the standing up.

Claims

1. A stand-up unit, comprising: (a) a first parallelogram comprising a first lever and a second lever; (b) a second parallelogram comprising a first arm of the first lever and a second arm of the second lever, (c) a common pivot point shared by the first and second parallelograms; (d) a support operably coupled to the common pivot point and the second parallelogram; (e) a coupling component operably coupled at a first end to the first lever and at a second end to a backrest carrier; (f) a backrest operably coupled to the backrest carrier; and (g) a seat operably coupled to the first parallelogram.

2. The stand-up unit of claim 1, wherein the first parallelogram is configured to hold the backrest upright both in a sitting position and in a standing position of a user.

3. The stand-up unit of claim 1, further comprising a footrest operably coupled to the support.

4. The stand-up unit of claim 3, wherein the second parallelogram is configured to move the seat upward in relation to the footrest.

5. The stand-up unit of claim 1, wherein the coupling component is configured to move the backrest toward a trailing end of the seat during a change from a sitting position to a standing position.

6. The stand-up unit of claim 1, further comprising a linear drive operably coupled to the support and the first parallelogram.

7. The stand-up unit of claim 1, further comprising a first spring joint element operably coupled to the support and a second spring joint element operably coupled to the first lever.

8. The stand-up unit of claim 1, further comprising a chair to which the stand-up unit is operably coupled and further including a pedestal.

9. The stand-up unit of claim 8, wherein the support is height-adjustable.

10. The stand-up unit of claim 1, further comprising a wheelchair with a chassis to which the stand-up unit is operably coupled.

11. The stand-up unit of claim 10, further comprising a footrest operably coupled to the support.

12. The stand-up unit of claim 1, wherein the coupling component is configured to prevent relative movement between the backrest and a user's back.

13. The stand-up unit of claim 1, wherein the second parallelogram is configured to prevent relative movement between the seat and a user's buttocks.

14. A stand-up unit, comprising: (a) a support; (b) a footrest operably coupled to the support; and (c) a stand-up mount operably coupled to the support, the stand-up mount comprising: (i) a first parallelogram comprising a first lever and a second lever; (ii) a second parallelogram operably coupled to the support, the second parallelogram comprising a first arm of the first lever and a second arm of the second lever; (iii) a common pivot point shared by the first and second parallelograms, wherein the common pivot point is operably coupled to the support; (iv) a coupling component operably coupled at a first end to the first lever and at a second end to a backrest carrier; (v) a backrest operably coupled to the backrest carrier; and (vi) a seat operably coupled to the first parallelogram.

15. The stand-up unit of claim 14, wherein the first parallelogram is configured to hold the backrest upright both in a sitting position and in a standing position of a user.

16. The stand-up unit of claim 14, wherein the second parallelogram is configured to move the seat upward in relation to the footrest.

17. The stand-up unit of claim 14, wherein the coupling component is configured to prevent relative movement between the backrest and a user's back.

18. The stand-up unit of claim 14, wherein the second parallelogram is configured to prevent relative movement between the seat and a user's buttocks.

19. The stand-up unit of claim 14, further comprising a chair to which the stand-up unit is coupled and further including a pedestal.

20. The stand-up unit of claim 14, further comprising a wheelchair with a chassis to which the stand-up unit is coupled.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the stand-up unit;

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective illustration of a stand-up wheelchair having a stand-up unit, viewed laterally from the front, together with the schematic illustration of a user of the chair, the joints of the user of the chair being visible;

(4) FIG. 3 shows the stand-up unit with the user of the chair in the sitting position;

(5) FIG. 4 shows the stand-up unit with the user of the chair as he stands up or sits down;

(6) FIG. 5 shows the stand-up unit with the user of the chair in the standing position;

(7) FIG. 6 shows an enlarged detail from FIG. 3;

(8) FIG. 7 shows an enlarged detail from FIG. 5;

(9) FIG. 8 shows a chair with a stand-up unit;

(10) FIG. 9 is a view of the stand-up wheelchair as in FIG. 1, but viewed laterally from the rear; and

(11) FIG. 10 shows a stand-up wheelchair with a different chassis.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

(12) The stand-up unit 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 has a support 21 and a stand-up mount 13 articulated to the support. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the stand-up mount 13 has two side frames 15 (FIG. 2, 9, 10) between which the seat 17, backrest 19 and footrest 24 are arranged. The side frames 15 have a large number of levers which are illustrated schematically in FIG. 1. It would however also be possible to centrally arrange a single lever system of this type.

(13) FIGS. 2, 9 and 10, which show the use of the stand-up unit in stand-up wheelchairs, also show the armrests 18 fastened to the backrest carrier 25, as well as the knee holders 20.

(14) The design of the stand-up unit 10 is most clearly apparent from the schematic illustration in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 3 to 7 which show the sequence of movement. The stand-up mount 13, which is arranged on the support 21, has a seat carrier 23 carrying the seat 17 and a backrest carrier 25 carrying the backrest 19. Furthermore, the stand-up mount 13 has a first lever parallelogram 27 and a second lever parallelogram 29. The first lever parallelogram 27 serves to hold the backrest 19 upright both in the sitting position and in the standing position of the user. The second lever parallelogram 29 serves to move the seat 17 upward in relation to the footrest 24, which is arranged on the support 21, during a change from the sitting position to the standing position. Furthermore, means 30 are present in order to move the back rest 19 toward the trailing end of the seat 17 during a change from the sitting position to the standing position. It will be clear to the person skilled in the art that the movement proceeds in the opposite direction during a change from the standing position to the sitting position. In order to carry out a change from the sitting position to the standing position or vice versa, a linear drive 31 is provided between the support 21 and the first lever parallelogram 27. The linear drive 31 is articulated at 28 to the support 21 and at 32 to the lever 51. A gas spring or another spring device, which compensates for the body weight of the user of the chair, can be provided in addition to the linear drive 31. Spring joint elements have proven to be particularly advantageous, as will be described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. A linear drive 31 can be dispensed with if the chair user has sufficient muscular strength.

(15) The first lever parallelogram 27 has the pivot points 33 to 36. The second lever parallelogram 29 has the pivot points 35, 37 to 39. The pivot point 35 is common to both lever parallelograms 27, 29. The first lever parallelogram 27 has four parallelogram levers 41, 49, 45, 23. Of these, three 41, 49, 45 are double-armed. The first (41) and the second (49) parallelogram levers have arms 43, 53 which form with two further levers 55, 57 the second lever parallelogram 29 which is articulated with the pivot point 38 to a point of the support 21. A lever 51 connects in an articulated manner the common pivot point 35 of the two lever parallelograms 27, 29 to the support 21 at 44.

(16) The third parallelogram lever 45, which is located at the rear part of the seat 17, has an arm 47 on which the backrest carrier 25 is displaceably arranged. Means, for example in the form of a rod 30 connecting the first parallelogram lever 41 to the backrest carrier 25 in an articulated manner, are used for displacing the backrest carrier 25.

(17) FIGS. 3 to 5 and 6 and 7 show the sequence of movement during the change from the sitting position to the standing position and vice versa. It may be seen that almost no relative movements between the body of the chair user and the surfaces of the chair take place during these movement sequences. Thus, the front edge of the chair 17 moves upward and the backrest 19 moves downward during the change from the sitting position to the standing position.

(18) It has already been stated that it is expedient to compensate for the body weight of the user of the chair by a spring device. This can be carried out for example, as disclosed in EP 0 815 822, by a gas spring. However, the use illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 of two spring joint elements 59, 61, for example of the ROSTA type, which are integrated in the lever 51, has proven to be particularly advantageous. The spring joint element 59 connects the lever 51 to the support 21 and the spring joint element 61 connects the lever 51 to the first parallelogram lever 41. In the sitting position (FIG. 6), both spring joint elements 59, 61 are biased and strive to pivot the seat 17 upward until the seat reaches a pivot position of approximately 55 degrees. Away from this position, the further pivoting takes place into the end position of FIG. 7, counter to the force of the spring elements 59, 61.

(19) In the end position (FIGS. 5 and 7), the seat 17 and backrest 19 are in the perpendicular position and allow the user—in contrast to most known stand-up wheelchairs—to stand fully upright. In this position, there is no risk of the stand-up mechanism becoming blocked on account of the dead centre, since the dead centre is not yet reached in this position and because, as has just been mentioned, the last part of the stand-up movement was carried out counter to a spring force, the energy stored as a result in the spring joint elements 59, 61 helps the seat 17 to pivot back into the sitting position. A further advantage of the spring joint elements 59, 61 consists in the fact that they cancel the joint play and the seat 17 and backrest 19 therefore offer the user secure support in the fully upright standing position.

(20) FIGS. 8 to 10 show a chair and two different stand-up wheelchairs with a stand-up unit 10. In the chair from FIG. 8, the stand-up unit 10 is fastened to a pedestal 63. A foot rest has been dispensed with in this exemplary embodiment. For the use of the chair as a therapy chair, the support 21 could be configured so as to be height-adjustable, as has for example already been proposed in DE 26 25 046.

(21) FIGS. 9 and 10 show by way of example that various chassis 11 can be used.

(22) Various alterations are possible without departing from the inventive concept. Thus, it is also possible to use other spring means, instead of ROSTA elements, for the same purpose.

(23) In summary, the following may be stated:

(24) The stand-up unit 10 has a support 21 and a stand-up mount 13 which is articulated to the support 21 and has a seat carrier 23 carrying a seat 17 and a backrest carrier 25 carrying a backrest 19. A first lever parallelogram 27 is also provided to hold the backrest 19 upright in any position. The backrest 19 can be displaced by the first lever parallelogram 27 by means of a rod 30 in order to prevent any undesirable relative movement between the backrest 19 and the user's back as he stands up or its down. A second lever parallelogram 29 controls the movement of the seat 17 as the user stands up and sits down, thus preventing any relative movement between the seat 17 and the user's buttocks. When provided with a pedestal, the stand-up unit can serve as a chair, in particular as a therapy chair. However, when connected to a chassis, the stand-up unit can also serve as a stand-up wheelchair.