JP2025110028A - Transfer assistance mechanism and wheelchair equipped with same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a transfer assistance mechanism that can transfer a care recipient from a bed to a stretcher, a wheelchair or the like by a simple mechanism and that can easily be mounted on the stretcher, the wheelchair or the like.SOLUTION: Provided is a transfer assistance mechanism that assists transfer of a care recipient from a fixed bed to a transport bed or from a transport bed to a fixed bed, the transfer assistance mechanism including: a transfer board for transferring the care recipient between the fixed bed and the transport bed; a connecting member connectable to the transfer board; and an actuator provided on the transport bed side and configured to move the transfer board back and forth in a width direction of the transport bed via the connecting member. The transfer board comprises a board body to which the connecting member is connected, and an endless conveyor belt that rotates around the board body in response to the advancement and retreat of the actuator to transport the care recipient.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a transfer assistance mechanism that assists a care recipient who is lying in bed to transfer to a stretcher or wheelchair.

In hospitals and elderly care facilities, there are many situations where a care recipient must be transferred from a bed to a stretcher or wheelchair, or from a stretcher or wheelchair to a bed, in order to move around the facility. In such cases, if the care recipient is unable to transfer independently, the caregiver must lift or hold the care recipient to move them, which places an excessive burden on the caregiver.

A transfer assistance mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known as a device for assisting the transfer of a cared-for person to reduce the physical burden on the caregiver. This mechanism includes a stretcher body arranged adjacent to the bed on which the cared-for person lies, a bed that is movably provided relative to the stretcher body and can be freely advanced onto the bed, and a closed-loop conveyor belt that circulates around the bed. In order to use the mechanism, first, a part of the bed is advanced onto the bed and inserted under the right or left half of the cared-for person's body. From this state, the conveyor belt is rotated around the bed, allowing the cared-for person to be placed on the bed. Once the cared-for person has finished getting on the bed, the bed is returned from the bed to the stretcher body, making it possible to transfer the cared-for person onto the stretcher.

Patent Document 2 also discloses a transfer assistance mechanism in which the bed of a stretcher itself is movable by a closed-loop conveyor belt. In this mechanism, the bed of the stretcher to which the care recipient is transferred moves toward the original bed side as the conveyor belt rotates, making it easy for the care recipient to get on to the bed. Once the care recipient has finished getting on to the bed, the conveyor belt can be rotated in the opposite direction to pull the bed from the bed side toward the stretcher side, allowing the care recipient to transfer onto the stretcher together with the bed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-253057 Utility Model Registration No. 3239551

However, the transfer assistance mechanisms disclosed in these documents are configured so that the stretcher platform itself moves back and forth between the stretcher (the transfer destination) and the bed (the transfer origin) as the conveyor belt rotates, so a mechanism is required to support the movement of the platform, and the platform with the care recipient on it must be held in a cantilevered position, necessitating the installation of a complex and robust mechanism on the stretcher side.

The present invention was developed in consideration of these problems, and its purpose is to provide a transfer assistance mechanism that can transfer a care recipient from a bed to a stretcher or wheelchair using a simple mechanism and that can be easily installed on a stretcher or wheelchair.

That is, the present invention is a transfer assistance mechanism that assists the transfer of a care recipient from a fixed bed to a transport bed or from a transport bed to a fixed bed, and includes a transfer board for transferring the care recipient between the fixed bed and the transport bed, a connecting member that can be freely connected to the transfer board, and an actuator that is provided on the transport bed side and moves the transfer board forward and backward in the width direction of the transport bed via the connecting member. The transfer board is composed of a board body to which the connecting member is connected, and an endless transport belt that rotates around the board body in response to the forward and backward movement by the actuator to transport the care recipient.

According to the present invention, an actuator is used to move the transfer board between the fixed bed and the transport bed, and an endless transport belt rotates around the transfer board to move the cared-for person M between the fixed bed and the transport bed. This allows the cared-for person to be transferred between the fixed bed and the transport bed while minimizing the amount of movement of the transfer board. This makes it possible to transfer the cared-for person with a simple mechanism, and the transfer assistance mechanism can be easily equipped on a stretcher or wheelchair.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an embodiment of an electric wheelchair equipped with a transfer assistance mechanism of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a seat of the electric wheelchair according to the embodiment is deployed horizontally. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a transfer assistance mechanism according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a transfer board used in the embodiment. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 4. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a first step in transferring a care recipient from a permanent bed to a stretcher. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a second step in transferring a care recipient from a permanent bed to a stretcher.

The transfer assistance mechanism of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing an electric wheelchair 1 to which the transfer assistance mechanism of the present invention can be applied. This electric wheelchair 1 automatically transports a care recipient to a destination by autonomous driving, and is equipped with four drive wheels 2 that run on the floor surface. The drive wheels 2 are omnidirectional drive wheels, and for example, Mecanum wheels (registered trademark) can be used. The electric motor that controls the rotation of these drive wheels 2, a controller, and a battery as a power source are housed in the drive unit 3. The reference numeral 5 in the figure denotes a grip that a caregiver uses when manually operating the electric wheelchair.

The seat 4 in the electric wheelchair 1 on which the care recipient M sits is composed of a seating surface 40, a backrest 41, a headrest 42, a lower leg support 43, and a footrest 44, and adjacent sections can be bent freely to realize the optimum seat shape according to the physical condition of the care recipient M. As shown in FIG. 2, the seating surface 40, backrest 41, headrest 42, lower leg support 43, and footrest 44 can be deployed horizontally, in which case the electric wheelchair 1 can be transformed into a stretcher (transport bed). The seat is bent or deployed by the drive unit.

1, plate-shaped movable locking parts 45 are provided on both the left and right sides of the seat part 40, the backrest part 41, and the lower leg support part 43. When the cared person M is riding on the seat, the movable locking parts 45 stand perpendicular to the seat part 40, the backrest part 41, and the lower leg support part 43, preventing the cared person M from slipping off the seat 4. The movable locking parts 45 can be deployed 90 degrees outside the seat, and when deployed, the movable locking parts 45 form the same surface as the seat part 40, the backrest part 41, and the lower leg support part 43. As a result, when the electric wheelchair 1 is transformed into a stretcher and the stretcher is parked next to a permanent bed used by the cared person M, the movable locking parts 45 can be deployed on the permanent bed to assist the cared person M in transferring between the permanent bed and the stretcher.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the transfer assistance mechanism equipped on the electric wheelchair 1.

This transfer assistance mechanism includes a transfer board 6 for transferring the care recipient M between the permanent bed B and the stretcher S, a connecting member 7 connected to the transfer board 6, and an actuator 8 for moving the connecting member 7 forward and backward in the width direction (left and right direction on the paper) of the stretcher S. The connecting member 7 and the actuator 8 are provided between the seat surface 40 and the backrest 41 of the seat 4, and between the backrest 41 and the headrest 42.

The actuator 8 is configured by wrapping a closed-loop track 82 around multiple sprockets including a drive sprocket 80 and a driven sprocket 81, and the track 82 can be rotated back and forth by rotating the drive sprocket 80 with an electric motor (not shown). The connecting member 7 is connected to a part of the track 82, and moves in the width direction of the stretcher S by rotating the track 82. The connecting member 7 is a rod-shaped member that extends from the stretcher S to the permanent bed B and connects the track 82 of the actuator 8 to the transfer board 6 installed on the permanent bed B.

The actuator 8 is not limited to one that rotates the tracks 82 back and forth with the drive sprocket 80, so long as it can move the connecting member 7 back and forth in the width direction of the stretcher S and move the transfer board 6 connected to the connecting member 7 in the same direction. For example, it may be a ball screw actuator that converts the rotational motion of an electric motor into linear reciprocating motion of the connecting member 7 with a ball screw device.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the transfer board 6, and Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of line V-V in Figure 4. The transfer board 6 comprises a board body 60, a number of rollers 61 provided on both sides of the board body 60 in the width direction (the vertical direction of the paper), and a number of endless conveyor belts 62 that are wound around the rollers 61 so as to encase the board body 60. The board body 60 is a synthetic resin plate material whose periphery is reinforced with metal square pipes, and is covered with an inner sheet material (e.g., a fluorofiber sheet) that has excellent low friction properties. In addition, a support member that holds the rollers 61 rotatably is fixed to the square pipes.

In the transfer board 6 of this embodiment, six rollers 61 are arranged in series on one side of the board body 60, and a separate conveyor belt 62 is wound around each roller 61. This allows the six conveyor belts 62 to rotate freely around the board body 60. Each conveyor belt 62 is made of a sheet material with excellent low friction properties (e.g., a fluorofiber sheet).

The transfer board 6 has gaps between adjacent conveyor belts 62 corresponding to the position of the shoulders and waist of the care recipient M who uses it (the position of arrow A in FIG. 4), and is configured so that the connecting member 7 provided on the stretcher S can be connected to the board body 60 of the transfer board 6 at these positions. In other words, when the connecting member 7 is moved in the width direction of the stretcher S by the actuator 8, the transfer board 6 connected to the connecting member 7 moves forward and backward between the permanent bed B and the stretcher S.

Figures 6 and 7 are diagrams showing how a care recipient M is transferred from a permanent bed B to a stretcher S using the transfer assistance mechanism of the present invention. Note that these figures are drawn without the actuator 8 and the connecting member 7.

As shown in FIG. 6, first, the stretcher S is placed next to the permanent bed B, and the movable locking part 45 adjacent to the permanent bed B is deployed to the outside of the stretcher S. This allows the movable locking part 45 to close the gap between the permanent bed B and the stretcher S, making it possible to support the reciprocating movement of the transfer board 6 between the permanent bed B and the stretcher S.

Next, the transfer board 6 is slipped under the cared-for person M lying on the permanent bed B, and the cared-for person M is placed on the transfer board 6. It is not necessary for the cared-for person M's entire body to be placed on the transfer board 6; only the half of the body on the permanent bed B side needs to be placed on the transfer board 6. If the cared-for person M is temporarily placed in a sideways position on the permanent bed B (see FIG. 3), the transfer board 6 can be slipped under the cared-for person M.

On the other hand, in the stretcher S, the actuator 8 is driven to move the connecting member 7 to the permanent bed side B, and the connecting member 7 is protruded from the stretcher S side to the permanent bed B side on the movable locking portion 45. This makes it possible to connect the tip of the connecting member 7 to the board body 60 of the transfer board 6 placed on the permanent bed B.

Once the connecting member 7 is connected to the transfer board 6, the actuator 8 is driven to pull the connecting member 7 toward the stretcher S, and the transfer board 6 to which the connecting member 7 is connected is moved in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 6. The transfer board 6 is pressed against the permanent bed B by the weight of the care recipient M, so when the transfer board 6 is moved in the direction of the arrow B, the conveyor belt 62 that is wound around the board body 60 of the transfer board 6 naturally rotates around the transfer board 6. As a result, the care recipient M, who had only half his body on the transfer board 6, is pulled up onto the transfer board 6 with the rotation of the conveyor belt 62.

At this time, the movement amount of the surface of the conveyor belt 62 is twice as much as the movement amount of the transfer board 6, so when the transfer board 6 is moved from the permanent bed B toward the stretcher S, the care recipient M moves on the transfer board 6 by twice the movement amount of the transfer board 6. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, when the transfer board 6 moves from the permanent bed B toward the stretcher S, the care recipient M passes over the transfer board 6 and moves onto the stretcher S. In other words, it is possible to transfer the care recipient M to the stretcher S without pulling the entire transfer board 6 into the stretcher S.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7, when the entire body of the care recipient M is placed on the stretcher S, the movement of the connecting member 7 by the actuator 8 is stopped. At this time, half of the care recipient M is placed on the transfer board 6, but if the care recipient M is temporarily placed in a sideways position on the stretcher S, the transfer board 6 can be removed from under the care recipient M. When removing the transfer board 6, the connection between the connecting member 7 and the board body 60 of the transfer board 6 is released. This allows the transfer board 6 to be stored separately from the stretcher S.

On the other hand, when transferring the cared-for person M from the stretcher S to the permanent bed B, the procedure described with reference to Figures 6 and 7 is carried out in reverse. This makes it possible to easily transfer the cared-for person M on the stretcher S to the permanent bed B.

After the care recipient has been transferred to the stretcher S, the seat 4 can be bent according to the physical condition of the care recipient, and the wheelchair can be used as an electric wheelchair 1 as shown in FIG. 1.

As explained above, according to the transfer assistance mechanism of the present invention, when the transfer board 6 is moved between the permanent bed B and the stretcher S using the actuator 8, the conveyor belt 62 wound around the transfer board 6 rotates in conjunction with the movement of the transfer board 6, moving the care recipient M between the permanent bed B and the stretcher S at a moving speed that is twice that of the transfer board 6.

As a result, the care recipient can be transferred between a permanent bed and a stretcher while minimizing the amount of movement of the transfer board 6 caused by the actuator 8. This makes it possible to transfer the care recipient using a simple mechanism, and also makes it easy to equip the transfer assistance mechanism on a stretcher or wheelchair.

The transfer board is also provided with rotatable rollers that support the rotation of the conveyor belt, so that the conveyor belt can be easily rotated even when the weight of the care recipient is acting on the transfer board. This reduces the resistance acting on the movement of the transfer board, and the actuator can easily move the transfer board forward and backward. In this respect, the transfer assistance mechanism can be made smaller, making it easier to install on stretchers and wheelchairs.

Reference Signs List 1: Electric wheelchair, 2: Drive wheel, 4: Seat, 6: Transfer board, 7: Connecting member, 8: Actuator, 45: Movable locking portion, 60: Board body, 61: Roller, 62: Transport belt, B: Permanent bed, S: Stretcher

Claims (3)

A transfer assistance mechanism for assisting a care recipient in transferring from a fixed bed to a transport bed or from a transport bed to a fixed bed, comprising:
a transfer board for transferring a care recipient between the fixed bed and the transport bed, a connecting member that can be freely coupled to the transfer board, and an actuator that is provided on the transport bed side and moves the transfer board back and forth in a width direction of the transport bed via the connecting member,
The transfer assistance mechanism is characterized in that the transfer board is composed of a board body to which the connecting member is connected, and an endless conveying belt that rotates around the board body in response to the movement forward and backward by the actuator to transport the person being cared for. The transfer assistance mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that a roller that supports the rotation of the conveyor belt is rotatably supported on the board body of the transfer board. the transport bed is divided into a backrest, a seat, and legs, and when the backrest is bent up relative to the seat and the legs are bent down relative to the seat, the transport bed as a whole can be transformed into a chair shape;
2. The transfer assistance mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the actuators are disposed between the backrest and the seat, and between the seat and the legs.