US3366978A - Chair heighth collapsible bathtub - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 6, 1968 R. v. JONES CHAIR HEIGHTH COLLAPSIBLE BATHTUB Filed June 1, 1965 INVENTOR. RUTH V. JONES Mag.

United States Patent Ofiice 3366378 Patented Feb. 6, 1968 3,366,978 CHAIR HEEGHTH CQLLAPSIBLE BATHTUB Ruth V. Jones, 45 W. Moreland, Phoenix, Ariz. 85003 Filed June 1, 1965, Ser. No. 469,052 6 (Ilaims. (Cl. 4-177) ABSTRACT 9F THE DESCLOSURE A collapsible bathtub having a frame supporting a chair provided with relatively pivoted leg rests and back portions, and also having a tub frame which is generally U-shaped and provided with a collapsible tub portion at the front of the chair, such that the collapsible tube portion may be raised or lowered so as to contain water around the chair, when raised and to be collapsed to floor level in front of the chair so that a disabled patient may enter the tub by sitting in the chair, and may leave the tub by walking away from the tub, when the frontal portion of the tub is collapsed downwardly to floor level.

This invention relates to a chair heighth collapsible bathtub and more particularly to a chair heighth collapsible bathtub which may be used by partially disabled persons who are unable to handle themselves physically in a low level bathtub, yet may be capable of safely bathing in a chair heighth sitting position.

Bathing has been a serious problem to many elderly persons and particularly those partially disabled. As for example, arthritic patients have little strength or physical control of their bodies when required to approach a loW level bathtub which requires stooping and maneuvering to get into the tub and which also requires sufficient strength and balance to rise from the tub and avoid slipping and falling. The difficulties encountered by elderly and partially disabled persons, in taking baths, has resulted in the avoidance of necessary bathing by such persons, due to the hazards involved.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a collapsible chair heighth bathtub means which employs a chair heighth seat elevated above the floor of a room and means for collapsibly supporting a bathtub in surrounding relation with the chair heighth seat, such that the side of the bathtub may be collapsed to floor level in front of the chair heighth seat so that a partially disabled person may readily take a sitting position on the chair heighth seat and then subsequently be surrounded by the elevation of the collapsible tub, so that water may be contained in the tub and the person sitting on the chair heighth seat therein may bathe in sitting position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel collapsible chair heighth bathtub particularly adapted for use by partially disabled persons and wherein means is provided to provide for a reclining position of a portion of the collapsible bathtub and for a back rest element adjacent the chair heighth seat portion in the bathtub, so that persons may bathe in reclined position therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel chair heighth collapsible bathtub which may readily be moved from one area to another on a building room floor, so that partially disabled persons may easily attain a chair heighth sitting position in the collapsible bathtub of the invention to thereby avoid the necessity of such persons moving substantial distances.

Another object of the invention is to provide a chair heighth collapsible bathtub in which a partially disabled person may bathe in sitting position and wherein such person is provided with lateral support, as well as normal sitting support while bathing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel chair heighth collapsible bathtub in which a side wall of the bathtub is collapsible to floor level in front of a chair heighth seat internally of the bathtub, so that an aged or partially disabled person may readily and easily approach the normally front portion of the chair of the collapsible bathtub and sit down preliminary to the raising of the flexible walls of the bathtub in front of the chair.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention may be obvious from the following specification, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a chair heighth collapsible bathtub, in accordance with the invention, and showing portions of the bathtub structure broken away and fragmentarily, in order to amplify the illustration; and

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken from the line 2 2 of FIG. 1, showing the invention on slightly enlarged scale and illustrating, by broken lines, varying positions of parts of the mechanism and the collapsible tube structure of the invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the invention comprises a substantially rigid frame 10, which may be made of sheet metal, fiberglass, or any other suitable structure. This frame is provided with a first vertical wall 12 which will be referred to as a back wall and connected to the back wall 12 are side walls 14 and 16.

Between the side Walls 14 and 16 are mounted chair seat and back elements 18 and 20. The seat element 18 is fixed between the Walls 14 and 16, while the seat back element 20 is pivoted on a horizontal shaft 22, so that it may move into a reclined position, as indicated by broken lines A in FIG. 2 of the drawings.

The seat element 18 is disposed in the frame 10 at an elevation above a floor B, which corresponds to the usual chair height elevation and the frame 10 is supported by casters 24 to maintain the seat structure of the invention at the proper elevation and in a portable arrangement, as will be hereinafter described in detail.

Pivoted to the seat element 18, by means of a shaft 26, is a leg rest 28 which may be moved to a broken line position 39, as shown in FIG. 2, and as Will be hereinafter described in detail.

Pivoted to the side walls 14 and 16, by means of projecting trunnions 32 and 34, are opposite end portions 36 and 38 of a U-shaped collapsible tub frame member 40. Thus, this frame, when in the position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, extends forward in a U-shaped loop forwardly of the chair element 18 and, by means of the trunnions 32 and 34, is pivoted downwar-d into a position at which the closed side of the U- shaped portion of the frame 41) is disposed in a broken line position C. The closed portion of the U-shaped tub frame element 40 being designated 42 which travels in an arcuate path D, as indicated in FIG. 2, from the solid line position to the broken line position C. Actuation of this tub frame member 40 is accomplished by means of an electrically motorized screw jack mechanism 44 mounted on each side of the frame 10, thus, one of the mechanisms 44 is mounted on the wall 14 and one of the mechanisms 44 is mounted on the wall 16. These mechanisms are provided with extending plungers 46 which are pivotally mounted at 48 to opposite side portions of the U-shaped collapsible tub frame 40. Each actuating mechanism 44 is pivotally mounted to a respective side 14 or 16 of the frame It by means of a mounting pin 48.

These actuating mechanisms 44 are operated in unison to extend or retract their respective plungers and to move the collapsible tub frame 40 from the solid line position, shown in FIG. 2, to the broken line position,

3 as indicated by broken lines in FIG. 2 of the drawings, or in the opposite direction as desired.

Secured to the frame member 40 is a soft flexible collapsible tub 50 which may be made of plastic or any other suitable foldable material. This tub 50 being shaped to have a bottom portion 52 which may rest on the floor B and also provided with a side wall 54 which normally lies adjacent the vertical or inclined leg rest 28 and the tub is provided with an elevated bottom portion 56 which rests on the top of the elevated chair structure 18. Further, the collapsible tub structure is provided with another substantially vertical side wall portion 58 which may be reclined with the seat back structure 20. This wall 58 extends up to approximately an area of upper edge portions 60 of the frame 10, at which location substantially U-shaped folds 62 and 64 at opposite sides of the side wall portion 58 and the back rest interconnect theside wall 58 with integral side walls 64 of the flexible tub normally suspended by the frame 40.

Thus, the entire seat structure is lined with side wall and bottom portions of the tub 50 and it is collapsible to a position indicated at C in front of the chair, so that a disabled person may be unloaded directly in front of the chair and swung about into sitting position on the chair 18 and above the bottom portion 56 of the tub 50, so that when the tub is partially filled with water from a suitable nozzle 70 that the person sitting on the chair structure 18 may be immersed in the water for bathing in a upright position. In this position, the person is fully supported in a normal sitting position by the chair structure hereinbefore described and is also between the side walls 64 of the tub 50 and between opposite side rail portions of the U-shaped collapsible tub frame 40. Thus, a partially disabled or aged person is very safely supported and retained in the collapsible tub of the present invention and in a sitting position which initially is easy for the person to attain without the hazard of getting up or down slipping in the tub and falling.

The seat back 20 and the leg rest 28 are both actuated from their solid line positions, as shown in FIG. 2, to the broken line positions hereinbefore described. Such pivotal actuation being adapted to provide a reclining position of the back rest 20 and a raising of the leg rest 28 which deflects the side portion 54 of the tub 50 upwardly and thereby displacing water upwardly in the tub as the back rest 20 moves back to reclining position, as indicated by broken lines A. When this happens, the folds 62 are exteuded backwardly so that the flexible structure of the tub is readily extended from the solid line position of the wall 58 to a corresponding reclining position of the wall 58 in engagement with the back rest 20 when it is moved to the broken line position A.

The movement of the back rest 20 and the leg rest to the back 12 of the frame 10. The actuating mechanism 72 is also provided with a plunger 76 having transverse trunnion means 78 movable in slotted portions 80 of guide plates 82 connected to the frame 10.

Also coupled to the trunnion 78, in pivotal relationship therewith, are links 84 and 86 which at their opposite ends 88 and 90, respectively, are pivotally connected by means of pivot bearings 92 and 94, respectively, with the back rest 20 and the leg rest 28.

Accordingly, when the trunnions 78 are projected by the actuating mechanism 72 in a direction of an arrow E, in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the links 84 and 86 concurrently pivot the back rest 20 from the solid line position to the broken line position A and the leg :rest 28 from its solid line position to its broken. line posi- 4 tion 30 whereby a patient or a bather, in the collapsible tub 50, may be reclined to bathe in such position.

An evacuating pump 96 is provided with an inlet tube 98 communicating with a drain opening 100 at a juncture between the seat bottom portion 56 and the side wall portion 58 of the collapsible tub 50. Additionally, the pump 96 is provided with another inlet conduit 102 which communicates at 104 with the interior of the tub at its bottom portion 52. Both inlets tubes 98 and 102 serve to drain water from the collapsible tub S0, whereupon the collapsible tub frame 40 may be actuated downward into a broken line position C, to collapse the front wall 50 of the tub and to permit unloading of a patient or partially disabled person from the chair heighth structure of the tub and to permit loading such person into bed or into a wheel chair, if desired.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the handling of a patient or the movement of a partially disabled person from a wheel chair to the chair heighth structure of the bathtub of the invention, is far less hazardous than an attempted entry of such a person into a conventional floor level bathtub. Such persons who lack muscular control and strength are unable safely to stoop down and to get into such bathtubs, particularly with the slick condition thereof, and, further such persons are unable to safely rise from such tubs. Consequently, the chair heighth tub structure of the present invention and its collapsible front wall 50 readily permit safe entry of such persons into the bathtub of the invention either from a wheel chair structure or from a bedside or those persons who are still able to walk can readily sit down on the seat structure of the invention and then cause energization of the actuating mechanisms 44 by means of an electrical switch or other control to raise the frontal portion 50 of the collapsible bathtub upwardly by means of the U-shaped frame 40 into the solid line position, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and to thereby arrange the tub in surrounding relation with the chair, so that it may be filled with bath water to thereby immerse the person sitting in the tub, so that such person may comfortably, in a sitting position, bathe himself with a high degree of safety. Further, entering and leaving the bathtub of the invention poses a minimum of danger, which might otherwise be encountered by persons hereinbefore referred to.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications of the present invention may be resorted to in a manner limited only by a just interpretation of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a chair heighth collapsible bathtub, the combination of: a frame; a seat supported on said frame and having a substantially horizontal chair seat portion maintained by said frame at an elevation above a floor substantially equal to a normal chair heighth; and a collapsible tub means surrounding the frontal portion of said chair means; and means for collapsing the frontal portion of said collapsible tub to substantially floor level at the front side of the chair on said frame; means forming a back rest for said chair means, a side wall of said flexible tub structure being laterally supported by said back rest; said back rest pivoted on horizontal axis near said chair structure to permit a side wall portion of said collapsible tub adjacent said back rest to be moved into reclining position.

2. In a chair heighth collapsible bathtub, the combination of: a frame; a seat supported on said frame and having a substantially horizontal chair seat portion maintained by said frame at an elevation above a floor substantially equal to a normal chair heighth; and a collapsible tub means surrounding the frontal portion of said chair means; and means for collapsing the frontal portion of said collapsible tub to substantially floor level at the front side of the chair on said frame; means forming a back rest for said chair means, a side wall of said flexible tub structure being laterally supported by said back rest; said back rest pivoted on horizontal axis near said chair structure to permit a side wall portion of said collapsible tub adjacent said back rest to be moved into reclining position; a leg rest pivotally mounted relative to said frame and depending from a forward portion of said seat structure, said leg rest being pivotally movable from a substantially vertical position to an inclined or substantially horizontal position forwardly of said seat structure.

3. In a chair heighth collapsible bathtub, the combination of: a frame; a seat supported on said frame and having a substantially horizontal chair seat portion maintained by said frame at an elevation above a floor substantially equal to a normal chair heighth; and a collapsible tub means surrounding the frontal portion of said chair means; and means for collapsing the frontal portion of said collapsible tub to substantially floor level at the front side of the chair on said frame; means forming a back rest for said chair means, a side wall of said flexible tub structure being laterally supported by said back rest; said back rest pivoted on horizontal axis near said chair structure to permit a side wall portion of said collapsible tub adjacent said back rest to be moved into reclining position; a leg rest pivotally mounted relative to said frame and depending from a forward portion of said seat structure, said leg rest being pivotally movable from a substantially vertical position to an inclined or substantially horizontal position forwardly of said seat structure; power operated actuating means supported on said frame and coupled to said back rest and said leg rest for pivotally moving the same.

4. In a chair heighth collapsible bathtub, the combination of: a frame; a seat supported on said frame and having a substantially horizontal chair seat portion maintained by said frame at an elevation above a floor substantially equal to a normal chair heighth; and a collapsible tub means surrounding the frontal portion of said chair means; and means for collapsing the frontal portion of said collapsible tub to substantially floor level at the front side of the chair on said frame; a substantially U-sh-aped collapsible tub frame having its opposite ends pivotally mounted on opposite sides of said frame and opposite sides of said seat structure, said pivotal mounting of said frame permitting up and down movement thereof in supporting relation with said collapsible tub forwardly of said chair structure.

5. In a chair heighth collapsible bathtub, the combination of: a frame; a seat supported on said frame and having a substantially horizontal chair seat portion maintained by said frame at an elevation above a floor substantially equal to a normal chair heighth; and a collapsible tub means surrounding the frontal portion of said chair means; and means for collapsing the frontal portion of said collapsible tub to substantially floor level at the front side of the chair on said frame; a substantially U-shaped collapsible tub frame having its opposite ends pivotally mounted on opposite sides of said frame and opposite sides of said seat structure, said pivotal mounting of said frame permitting up and down movement thereof in supporting relation with said collapsible tub forwardly of said chair structure; power operated actuating means for pivoting said frame about a horizontal axis to raise said collapsible tub upwardly to a level above said chair structure and to actuate said frame to move a portion thereof downwardly to approximately floor level below said chair structure and forwardly thereof.

6. In a chair heighth collapsible bathtub, the combination of: a frame; a seat supported on said frame and having a substantially horizontal chair seat portion maintained by said frame at an elevation above a floor substantially equal to a normal chair heighth; and a collapsible tub means surrounding the frontal portion of said chair means; and power operated means for collapsing the frontal portion of said collapsible tub to substantially floor level at the front side of the chair on said frame; means for filling said collapsible tub structure; and pump means for draining said col-lapsible tub structure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4,949 6/ 1872 Knowlton 4177 568,811 10/1896 Stoll 4177 754,217 3/1904 Herz 4177 1,021,346 3/1912 Wilson 41 2,763,873 9/1956 Saunders 4-177 2,913,738 11/1959 Wise 5-67 3,281,141 10/1966 Smiley et a1. 5-66 FOREIGN PATENTS 21,920 10/ 1908 Great Britain. 332,315 8/1903 France.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner. D. MASSENBERG, Assistant Examiner.

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