STAIRLIFT FOR A RIGHT HAND USER AND A LEFT HAND USER

Abstract

The present invention refers to a stairlift (1) comprising a first armrest (10) and a second armrest (10), wherein each armrest (10) is adapted to comprise at least one module (11, 12), and wherein said at least one module (11, 12) is adapted to provide at least one user control function; characterized in that the at least one module (11, 12) is adapted to be interchangeable between the first and second armrests (10).

Claims

1. A stairlift comprising: a seat body; a first armrest positioned on one side of the seat body; a second armrest positioned on another side of the seat body; a seat body; a drive unit operatively coupled to the seat body; wherein each armrest is adapted to comprise at least one module; and wherein said at least one module comprises at least one user control for influencing the movement of the seat body by a hand of a user; wherein the at least one module is adapted to be interchangeable between the first and second armrests.

2. The stairlift according to claim 1, wherein at least a first module is comprised in the first armrest and at least a second module is comprised in the second armrest or vice versa.

3. The stairlift according to claim 2, wherein the first armrest comprises a first compartment for receiving the first module or the second module and the second armrest comprises a second compartment for receiving the second module or the first module. wherein the first compartment and the second compartment each comprises all electrical connectors for transmitting signals provided by the first module and the second module.

4. The stairlift according to claim 2, wherein the first module is adapted to provide one or more first user control function, the second module is adapted to provide one or more second user control function wherein the second user control function is different from the first user control function.

5. The stairlift according to claim 2, wherein the first module is adapted to send and receive radio frequency (RF) signals from a remote control device.

6. The stairlift according to claim 1, wherein each armrest comprises a seatbelt section comprising a seatbelt module wherein the seatbelt module comprises: a winding mechanism; a seatbelt eye, wherein the winding mechanism, is located on the first armrest and the seatbelt eye is located on the second armrest or vice versa.

7. The stairlift according to claim 1, wherein each armrest optionally comprises at least one user control function including: a key-lock; an emergency lowering button.

8. The stairlift according to claim 8, wherein the emergency lowering button is located in the first module or in the second module.

9. The stairlift according to claim 8, wherein the key-lock is located in the first module or in the second module.

10. The stairlift according to claim 1, claims, wherein a front section of each armrest is adapted such that the modules have an identical fit.

11. The stairlift according to claim 6, wherein the seatbelt section of each armrest is adapted such that the winding mechanism and the seatbelt eye have an identical fit.

12. A method of configuring a stairlift comprising the steps of: providing a first armrest; providing a second armrest; providing a seat body; providing a drive unit; installing a first module at the first armrest and a second module at the second armrest, wherein the first module comprises at least one user control for influencing the movement of the seat body by a hand of a user; after installation, the first module and the second module are interchangeable between the first armrest and second armrests; and wherein when interchanging the first module and the second module the stairlift is powered.

13. The method according to claim 12 wherein the stairlift automatically reconfigures once any change of first and/or second module occurs at the armrests.

14. The method according to claim 12 further comprising the step of: optionally installing at the first or second armrest a key-lock or an emergency lowering button.

15. The method according to claim 12 further comprising the step of activating at least the first module manually or via a remote control device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] The invention is described in more detail with the help of the figures.

[0039] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a top view of a stairlift according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0040] FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of an armrest according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0041] FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of an armrest according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0042] FIG. 4 shows a schematic representation of a top view of a stairlift according to an embodiment of the invention wherein the armrests are in different rotated positions;

[0043] FIG. 5 shows a schematic representation of a top view of a stairlift according to an embodiment of the invention wherein the armrests are in different rotated positions;

[0044] FIG. 6 shows a schematic representation of a stairlift according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0045] FIG. 7 shows a schematic representation of an armrest according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] FIG. 1 shows a top view of a stairlift 1 according to an embodiment of the invention. The stairlift 1 comprises an armrest 10 on each side of a seat body 20. The armrests 10 and seat body 20 are shown in this particular example as being supported at a backrest body 30, however this is for illustration purposes only and not to be interpreted as a limiting feature of the invention. A front section 131 of the armrest 10 comprises at least one module 11, 12, wherein said module 11, 12, is adapted to provide at least one user control function. In this embodiment, a first module 11 provides the functions of: a joystick, an emergency stop button and RF electronics.

[0047] Hereinafter, the first module 11 shall be referred to as a joystick module 11. The joystick module 11 in this particular example contains opto-couplers (not shown) whose light signals are blocked or not by means of a vane, which is coupled to the joystick movement. The joystick function in the joystick module 11 comprises an RF electronic system which is used to transfer signals to and from a remote control 3, this is shown in FIG. 2. In this particular example, the joystick module 11 also comprises an electronic system that is connected to a control board 21 of the stairlift (shown in FIG. 6).

[0048] A second module 12 comprises the functions of: optional user controls. Hereinafter the second module 12 shall be referred to as an options module 12. Depending on the desired features of the stairlift 1, the options module 12 will have different optional functions. In this particular example, the options module 12 comprises; a footrest folding button, a seat folding button and a call feature, wherein this comprises one or more of: a DECT module, a speaker, a microphone and/or a button to operate the call feature.

[0049] The joystick and option modules 11, 12 can easily be exchanged from one armrest 10 to the other by removing at the front section 131 of the armrest 10, a cover 13 and an attachment means 14 as shown in FIG. 3. In this example, the attachment means is a screw 14. The exchange of modules 11, 12, will be further explained at a later stage.

[0050] The electrical connectivity of the joystick and option modules 11, 12 is established by means of spring-loaded contacts (not shown) which engage a printed circuit board, i.e., a connection board (not shown). The connection board is connected to an armrest board 17 via a cable 18. All electronics in the armrest are connected to this armrest board 17 via the cable 18. This is shown in more detail in FIG. 6.

[0051] The back section of the armrest contains a hinge construction 15, which enables the armrest to rotate around a substantially vertical axis, which is embodied by a hollow shaft (not shown). FIG. 1 shows the armrests 10 both locked in position C. The armrests 10 can rotate and can be locked in multiple positions A, B, C, D. In FIG. 4, the armrests 10 are in positions A and B, whilst in FIG. 5, the armrests 10 are both in position D. The locking and unlocking of the rotational movement is performed by means of a latch (not shown) which moves in and out slots of the hollow shaft. The latch can be operated manually by means of a slider mechanism 16, shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, which are located behind the joystick or options module 11, 12. The slider mechanisms 16 are present in both armrests 10, therefore exchange between armrests 10 is not necessary.

[0052] The armrests 10 also comprise a position and lock detection device (not shown) to detect the rotational positions A, B, C, D of both armrests 10. As a result, the location of the joystick module 11 is not bound to the valley side of the stairlift 1 anymore and can be freely chosen by the end user. Also, due to the interchangeability of the modules 11, 12, the end user is free to choose the position of a seatbelt winding mechanism (not shown), which due to the inventive configuration of the armrests 10 is now also independent of the position of e.g. the joystick module 11.

[0053] Referring back to the electrical conductivity of the modules 11, 12 and other components comprised in the armrests 10, FIG. 6 shows the armrest board 17 located at the top of the back section of the armrest 10. Whilst only one armrest 10 is shown, this applies equally to the second armrest 10. All electronics in the armrest 10 are connected to the armrest board 17 via the armrest cable 18. The armrest board 17 is connected to a control board 21 in the drive unit 2 by means of cabling 18 through the chair 1 and the drive 2. Whilst not shown in FIG. 6, the cabling section 18 contains a curled section positioned in said hollow shaft of each armrest 10. When the armrest 10 rotates, the bends of the curled cable 18 become smaller or larger, depending on the direction of rotation. The curls of the cable 18 do not touch each other, to prevent wear due to rubbing during the rotations. In this way the cable 18 is enabled to follow the movement of the armrest 10 without getting damaged. The left armrest cable 18 is exactly the same as the right armrest cable 18; since it can rotate to both directions, there is no need to have two mirrored variants. The power and data transfer between the control board 21 in the drive 2 and both armrest boards 17 through said cabling 18 is accomplished by means of a CAN bus system, in this particular example, a CAN 2.0 system.

[0054] FIG. 7 shows a further module 19, which comprises seatbelt components, i.e., a seatbelt module 19. This module 19 is located at the section behind the slider mechanism 16. An optional key-lock and an emergency lowering button can also be located here. The emergency lowering button, is an electrical switch, and is always located at the same side as the joystick module 11. The key-lock is also an electrical switch, but it can optionally be installed in the armrest 10 that does not contain the joystick module 11.

[0055] The seatbelt module 19 is comprised in the in the seatbelt section 191 of the armrest 10 and comprises a winding mechanism (not shown), including the seatbelt webbing and the seatbelt buckle mounted to one armrest 10 and a seatbelt eye at the other armrest 10. The seatbelt eye contains an opto-coupler which detects the presence of the seatbelt buckle by means of a moving slider.

[0056] The interchangeability of the armrests 10 is accomplished as follows. The joystick 11 module and the option 12 module have an identical fit in the front section 131 of the armrest 10 and the seatbelt module 19 has an identical fit in the seatbelt section 191 of the armrest 10. The exchange of modules 11, 12 between pairs of armrests 10 can be easily carried out by mounting and dismounting one or more screws at the interface between the one or more modules 11, 12, and the respective armrest 10. The exchange of the seatbelt module 19 between pairs of armrests 10 can be easily carried out by mounting and dismounting one or more screws at the interface between the seatbelt section 191 and the respective armrest 10. Both armrests 10 contain an identical cable 18 between the armrest board 17 and the connection board (not shown), to which the joystick module 11 and/or the options module 12 is connected.

[0057] In the armrest 10 that contains the joystick module 11, the emergency lowering button is connected to the armrest cable 18, in the other armrest 10, optionally a key-lock is connected. In either one of the armrests 10, a seatbelt eye is connected.

[0058] The detection of the modules 11, 12 in the armrests 10 is accomplished as follows. Both armrests 10 have an armrest board 17 each having its own ID on the CAN bus. Once the stairlift is installed and put into operation mode, an armrest board 17 checks if a joystick module 11 is connected by verifying whether a RS-232 connection is established or not. If so, the joystick module 11 is present, if not an options module 12 is expected to be present. When a joystick module 11 is connected to a certain armrest board 17, an input is transferred to the CAN bus as an emergency lowering command; otherwise, this input is transferred as a key-lock command.

[0059] The opto-coupler PCB in the seatbelt eye is built in such a way that it provides a pattern signal e.g., a sine signal, a PWM signal when blocked by the seatbelt, i.e., the seatbelt is connected. When the opto-coupler is not blocked, i.e., the seatbelt is not connected, it provides a continuous signal. If the signal is neither continuous nor patterned, the seatbelt eye is not present and therefore it is understood by the CAN bus to be present on the other armrest board 17. Finally, the control board checks if the configuration is complete and valid, by reading out the heartbeat signals of both armrest boards 17 on the CAN bus.

[0060] It is to be understood that aspects of the various embodiments described hereinabove may be combined with aspects of other embodiments while still falling within the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the foregoing description is intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive. The assembly of the present disclosure described hereinabove is defined by the claims, and all changes that fall within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0061] 1 stairlift [0062] 2 stairlift drive unit [0063] 3 remote control [0064] 10 armrest [0065] 11 module [0066] 12 module [0067] 13 cover [0068] 131 front section [0069] 14 attachment means [0070] 15 hinge [0071] 16 locking mechanism [0072] 17 armrest board [0073] 18 armrest cable [0074] 19 seatbelt module [0075] 191 seatbelt section [0076] 20 seat body [0077] 21 control board [0078] 30 backrest body [0079] A-D armrest position