TECHNICAL FIELD

The present subject matter relates to a multi-positional chair, which allows for a swift and efficient position transfer through a variety of positions. The chair according to the present subject matter is particularly suited for dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND

Medical equipments are known in the art, for example medical equipment specialized to carry out a dialysis process. Conventional dialysis therapy chairs are very expensive and are generally not purchased by hospitals.

On the one hand due to the steep prices of the chairs as already mentioned, and on the other hand due to the complication associated with the operation of these chairs, dialysis chairs are not commonplace. Generally, dialysis chairs consist of a plurality of motors, such as servomotors or electro motors that are difficult to control, particularly in emergency conditions. Specifically, for a patient who suffers blood pressure loss, particularly during the dialysis process, the patient must be moved into a particular medical position, referred to as the Trendelenburg position. In the Trendelenburg position, the body is laid flat on the back (supine position) with the feet higher than the head. Furthermore, in the medical practice, the patient must be re-positioned to the Trendelenburg position within a stipulated time of 3 minutes.

Therefore, in order to move to the Trendelenburg position within 3 minutes, also considering that this has to be completed under emergency conditions, typically the following steps occur once the patient has noticed the blood pressure drop:

• Patient rings alarm

• Nurse and or medical staff respond

• The nurse and/or the medical staff operate the chair/bed
In current times, where hospitals and medical care centers are under ever increasing occupancy, there is a high probability that the nurse or the medical staff will be already busy at the time of emergency. Therefore, it is probable that the stipulated time of 3 minutes will not be adhered to, to perform the Trendelenburg position maneuver, thus endangering the patient's well being.

Therefore, to operate the existing complicated mechanism chairs or beds, the patient needs to perform a variety of control orders to achieve the desired position. This may not be feasible in the emergency conditions where the patient might not be fully conscious. Moreover, the whole ordeal is rather lengthy, and may be disadvantageous to the patient, who may already be under stress, and to whom time is of the essence. Furthermore, as mentioned prior, the stipulated time guideline of 3 minutes must be adhered to for safe medical procedure.

Due to the extremely high cost of existing dialysis therapy chairs, complications in operation, as well as high requirements in terms of medical staff and time, there is a need for improvement in the technology and the need to provide a more efficient means of patient position transfer.

SUMMARY

The present subject matter describes a multi-positional chair. According to the present subject matter, a multi-positional chair is provided, which is advantageous in terms of both operation as well as cost effectiveness. The solution is achieved in the multi-positional chair according to the present subject matter in that it is simple in terms of operation even by the patient himself in emergency conditions.

In one implementation, the multi-positional chair includes an upper part, a middle part connected to the upper part at one end by a pivoted joint, a lower part, connected at one end to the middle part by a pivoted joint, a base frame, coupled to one end of a support pillar, where an other end of said support pillar is coupled to the middle part, and at least two linear actuators. The first linear actuator is coupled to the upper part, the middle part and the lower part, and the second linear actuator is coupled to the middle part.

Further, according to the present subject matter, the chair includes a main mechanism. The main mechanism includes a first bar coupled at one end to the upper part and coupled at another end to a second bar. Moreover, a third bar is coupled at one end to the lower part and coupled at another end to the second bar. The middle part of the chair includes an armrest, which is configured as a fourth bar.

Further according to the present subject matter, the first linear actuator is coupled to the upper part and the lower part via the main mechanism. Particularly, the first linear actuator is coupled to the first bar of the main mechanism by a pivoted joint.

According to the present subject matter, a fifth bar is provided, which facilitates a connection of the first linear actuator to the second linear actuator. Particularly, the first linear actuator is coupled to the fifth bar by a pivoted joint and similarly, the second linear actuator is also connected to the fifth bar by a pivoted joint.

According to the present subject matter, the chair is configured to transit from one position or configuration to another by utilizing the main mechanism of the chair. Particularly, the upper part, the middle part and the lower part of the chair are configured to assume one of a limit position from a group including a chair, a recliner, a bed, a
Trendelenburg, and any intermediate position therein.

In one embodiment, the upper part, the middle part and the lower part of the chair assume the Trendelenburg position from one of the limit positions or any of the intermediate positions in a predetermined time period.

In a preferred embodiment, the predetermined time period lies in a range of 20 to 30 seconds, particularly preferably about 25 seconds.

In an embodiment, the chair includes a control device, where the control device is configured to actuate at most two of the actuators at a time. The control device is configured with at least four preset positions corresponding to at least the chair, the recliner, the bed, and the Trendelenburg positions.

In an embodiment, the control device facilitates independent control of the at least two actuators. This allows a variety of customized positions for the user to choose from depending on need as well as desire.

Furthermore, the multi-positional chair is advantageous in that it can be utilized as a daily recliner and or chair.

In one embodiment, the multi-positional chair may be utilized as a bed.

In an embodiment, the main mechanism is configured in the form of a 4 bar parallelogram linkage mechanism.

In any of these usages, the chair may be positioned according to the chair users requirement or desire in a simple and quick manner by the advantageous mechanism of the chair. For example, the patient may be resting or sleeping in the bed or recliner position, and on noticing a sudden drop of blood pressure, may facilitate the chair to assume the Trendelenburg position, which will in turn increase blood flow to the head region of the chair user.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present subject matter will be better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used for to limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure la shows a perspective view of a multi-positional chair according to the present subject matter.

Figure lb shows a bottom side view of the multi-positional chair shown in figure la.

Figure 2a shows a side view of the multi-positional chair in a chair position.

Figure 2b shows a side view of the multi-positional chair in a recliner position.

Figure 2c shows a side view of the multi-positional chair in a bed position.

Figure 2d shows a side view of the multi-positional chair in a Trendelenburg position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the conventional chairs, in emergency situations, on the one hand, trained medical staff are required at a moments notice, and on the other hand, taking into consideration the ever increasing occupancy of hospitals and health care facilities, the probability that no staff are available at a given point of time, such as for example an emergency situation, is very high. Due to the above mentioned drawbacks, the entire procedure of moving the patient along with the chair into an advantageous medical position, such as a Trendelenburg configuration is a lengthy and tedious procedure. Therefore, the transition from one configuration to another is indubitably time consuming and complicated in that it takes longer time than what is stipulated in the current medical practice and in that, the patient himself has to operate the complicated mechanism of the chair in times of possible emergencies. Current medical chairs are either exceedingly expensive, or require trained medical staff to operate. Furthermore, these chairs are not easy to operate, i.e., the conventional chairs require trained medical staff to actuate the movement mechanism.

There is a requirement for a self and easily operable medical chair, one which is cost effective for hospitals and health care facilities from a broad range of financial strengths.
To address the aforementioned problems, a multi-positional chair is described herein. In one implementation, the multi-positional chair is capable of moving between positions in an emergency condition. In the conventional chairs, in emergency situations, on the one hand, trained medical staff are required at a moments notice, and taking into consideration the ever increasing occupancy of hospitals and health care facilities, the probability that no staff are available at a given point of time, such as for example an emergency situation, is very high. Therefore, the transition from one position to the next takes longer periods of time than what is stipulated in the current medical practice.

Although the subject matter has been explained in context of figures that depict a multi-positional chair, it may be understood that the subject matter may be extended to any chair, recliner, bed, gumey, etc., that may be capable of utilizing the advantageous yet simple and cost effective solution offered by the present subject matter.

According to the present subject matter a multi-positional chair is provided, which overcomes the above disadvantages.

Figure la shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the present subject matter. In this embodiment, a base frame 1 is shown, which supports the entire structure and is thus a foundation of the multi-positional chair. A load frame, particularly a triangular load frame lb is fastened to the base frame 1. Further, structural pillars Ic are supported by the base frame 1 and additionally by the triangular load frame lb. A further structural member la is provided across the base frame 1. The structural pillars Ic include a pivoted joint 18c at which the multi-positional chair is allowed to rotate.

According to the present subject matter, a main structure 2, which provides support to the seated person, is subdivided into three main sub structures, i.e., an upper part 2a, which supports an upper part of the body, a middle part 2b, which supports buttocks and waist region of the body, and a lower part 2c, which supports legs and feet of the body, respectively.

In the embodiment shown in figure la, cushions 3a, 3b and 3c are provided on the upper part 2a, the middle part 2b, and the lower part 2c respectively. The cushions 3a, 3b and 3 c provide further support and comfort to the chair user.

In an embodiment, the cushions 3a, 3b and 3c may be any padding or mattress, which provides comfort as well as support to the user of the chair.

Figure lb shows a bottom view of the multi-positional chair shown in figure la.

According to the present subject matter, three horizontal cross frame members, 5, 6 and 7 are coupled to the main structure 2. Cross frame member 5 is provided across the upper part 2a, while the cross frame member 6 and the cross frame member 7 are coupled to the middle part 2b and the lower part 2c respectively.

In one embodiment, the cross frame members 5, 6 and 7 are welded to the upper part 2a, the middle part 2b and the lower part 2c respectively.

In one embodiment, the cross frame members 5, 6 and 7 may be fastened to the upper part 2a, the middle part 2b and the lower part 2c respectively by any fastening means such as for example fastening brackets and/or fixtures.

According to the present subject matter, the cross frame member 5 extends horizontally across the upper part 2a, connecting a left and a right side of the upper part 2a, particularly at a right angle to a longitudinal axis (not marked) of the chair. Further, the cross frame members 6 and 7 are also configured, parallel to the cross frame member 5 and across the middle part 2b and the lower part 2c respectively.

According to the present subject matter, the multi-positional chair includes a main mechanism. The main mechanism further includes members or bars 9a, 9b and 9c that facilitate a transfer of forces from a motor or actuator to the chair parts, i.e. the upper, middle and lower parts 2a, 2b and 2c of the chair.

The first bar 9a is coupled to the cross frame member 5 of the upper part 2a. In an embodiment, the first bar 9a is welded to the cross frame member 5. Further, the third bar 9c is coupled to the cross frame member 7 of the lower part 2c. In an embodiment, the third bar 9c is welded to the cross frame member 7. The second bar 9b is an intermediate member, which facilitates a coupling of the first bar 9a to the third bar 9c. Therefore, due to the configuration of the second bar 9b by which the upper part 2a and the lower part 2c are coupled to each other, the upper part 2a and the lower part 2c move in relation to each other.

According to the present subject matter, the first bar 9a and the third bar 9c are coupled to the intermediate second bar 9b by pivoted joints 18a and 18b respectively. These pivoted joints 18a and 18b facilitate a hinge type mechanism in the multi-positional chair.

Furthermore, according to the present subject matter, the middle part 2b is configured as a fourth member of the main mechanism. The middle part 2b is coupled to the upper part 2a by the pivoted joint 18c.

In an embodiment, the main mechanism is configured in the form of a 4 bar parallelogram linkage mechanism.

In a preferred embodiment, the middle part 2b and the upper part 2a are pivoted at the pivoted joint 18c, where the middle part 2b and the upper part 2a are configured as L shaped bars. Such a configuration allows a simplified yet effective rotation of the middle part 2b with respect to the upper part 2a. Furthermore, by this configuration, interference between the cushions 3a and 3b of the upper and the middle parts 2a and 2b respectively does not occur during position change of the multi-positional chair.

According to the present subject matter, the middle part 2b is coupled to the lower part 2c by a pivoted joint 18f

According to the present subject matter, at least two actuators 10 and 11 are provided. In an embodiment of the present subject matter, the first and the second actuators 10 and 11 respectively are configured to transfer a rotary motion of the actuator to a linear motion of the multi-positional chair.

In an embodiment, a fifth bar 9d of the multi-positional chair is provided .The fifth bar 9d is coupled to the cross frame member 6 of the middle part 2b.

In a preferred embodiment of the present subject matter, the fifth bar 9d is welded to the cross frame member 6 of the middle part 2b.

Further, the first and the second actuators 10 and 11 respectively are coupled to the fifth bar 9d by pivoted joints 18d and 18e.

In an embodiment, the pivoted joints 18d and 18e may be provided as a single pivoted joint at which both the actuators 10 and 11 are coupled.

According to the present subject matter, the first actuator 10 causes a change in orientation of the middle part 2b with respect to the ground. Moreover, the second actuator provides a force to the upper part 2a and due to the configuration of the main mechanism including the bars 9a, 9b and 9c, the upper part 2a and the lower part 2b rotates by the same angle.

In an embodiment, an arm rest mechanism 12 is provided, including members or bars 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d. The arm rest provides support to the arms of the person seated in the chair and acts as a stress relieving means. Further, the arm rest mechanism 12 facilitates the movement of the arm rest along with the movement of the upper part, the middle part and the lower part 2a, 2b and 2c.

Further, the arm rests are provided with hand rest cushions 13 to provide additional comfort to the chair user.

Furthermore, a small support 12e is provided integral to the arm rest mechanism member 12a. This support 12e is configured such that a negative rotation of the arm rest mechanism 12 is prevented.

According to the present subject matter, in the embodiment shown in figure la, a footrest 15 is coupled to the lower part 2c by a slotted plate 4. The slotted plate 4 has angled slots 15a by which the footrest 15 may be adjusted.

In this embodiment, the footrest 15 is manually adjustable by the angled slots 15a.

Depending on the height of the person seated on the chair and desired comfort position, the footrest 15 may be adjusted.

In a further embodiment, the footrest 15 may be electrically actuated to provide ease of control to the chair user.

Further shown in figure la is a box type tray 1d for holding a control box 16, which is further connected to a control device 17, for example a wired remote control device.

In an embodiment, the footrest may be controlled by the control device 17.
According to the present subject matter, the control box 16 controls both the actuators 10 and 11 by sending electrical signals through wires 16a and 16b to the first and the second actuators 10 and 11 respectively. The control box 16 receives inputs from the control device 17, which is used by the chair user.

According to the present subject matter, the upper part, the middle part and the lower part 2a, 2b and 2c are configured to assume one of a limit position from a group consisting of a chair, a recliner, a bed, a Trendelenburg, and any intermediate position therein.

Figures 2a to 2d show the multi-positional chair in the different limit positions, namely the chair, the recliner, the bed, and the Trendelenburg positions respectively.

Figure 2a shows a side view of the multi-positional chair in the chair position. In this position, the upper part 2a is in an upright position and the patient can be in a comfortable upright seated position.

Figure 2b shows a side view of the multi-positional chair in the recliner position. In this position, the upper part 2a is more inclined to the horizontal than compared to the upper part 2a in the chair position. The patient may utilize this position as a user would with a typical recliner chair, which is known in the art. For example, a typical recliner chair is used to relax, watch television, read a book, take a short nap, etc.

Figure 2c shows a side view of the multi-positional chair in the bed position. In this position, all three parts of the chair, i.e. 2a, 2b and 2c are in line with each other.

Figure 2d shows a side view of the multi-positional chair in the Trendelenburg position. This position is similar to the bed position as shown in figure 2c except in that the entire chair is in negative rotation position. This is achieved by rotating the chair further from the bed position above the pivoted joint 18c.

In a preferred embodiment of the present subject matter, the first and the second actuators 10 and 11 are linear actuators. The linear actuators have built-in limit switches and dampers (not shown). With this, a simple and reliable construction of the multi-positional chair is achieved with a smooth motion without jerks and complicated electronic circuitry.

According to the present subject matter, the linear actuators 10 and 11, include fixed cylindrical bearings 10a and 11a respectively, in which pistons 10b and l1b reciprocate respectively, which in turn transfer forces to the bars 9a to 9d, effectively moving the chair through the different limit positions, or any intermediate position.

Furthermore, according to the present subject matter, the multi-positional chair is capable of assuming the Trendelenburg position from any of the limit positions or any intermediate position within a predetermined time period.

In a preferred embodiment of the present subject matter, the multi-positional chair is capable of assuming the Trendelenburg position from any of the limit positions or any intermediate position within 30 seconds, preferably within 25 seconds, particularly within 20 to 25 seconds.

According to the present subject matter, the multi-positional chair is capable of performing this position transition within the predetermined time period even under full load, i.e., about 600 kg.

Although the subject matter has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. As such, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiment contained therein.

We claim:

1. A multi-positional chair comprising:
an upper part (2a);

a middle part (2b) connected to the upper part (2a) at one end by a pivoted joint (18c);

a lower part (2c) connected at one end to the middle part via a pivoted joint 18(f);

a base frame (1) coupled to the middle part (2b) through a support pillar (Ic); and
at least two linear actuators (10, 11), wherein the first linear actuator (10) is coupled to the upper part (2a), the middle part (2b) and the lower part (2c), and the second linear actuator (11) is coupled to the middle part (2b).

2. The multi-positional chair as claimed in claim 1 further comprises a main
mechanism, the main mechanism comprising:

a first bar (9a) coupled at one end to the upper part (2a) and coupled at another end to a second bar (9b), a third bar (9c) is coupled at one end to the lower part (2c) and coupled
at another end to the second bar (9b), and the middle part (2b) is configured as a fourth bar.

3. The multi-positional chair as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the main mechanism is configured in the form of a 4 bar parallelogram linkage mechanism.

4. The multi-positional chair as claimed in one of the previous claims, wherein the first linear actuator (10) is coupled to the upper part (2a) and the lower part (2c) via the main mechanism.

5. The multi-positional chair as claimed in one of the previous claims, wherein the first linear actuator (10) is coupled to the first bar (9a) of the main mechanism by a pivoted joint (18a).

6. The multi-positional chair as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first linear actuator (10) is coupled to the second linear actuator by a fifth bar (9d) of the chair.

7. The multi-positional chair as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first linear actuator (10) is coupled to the fifth bar (9d) by a pivoted joint (18d).

8. The multi-positional chair as claimed in claim 6, wherein the second linear actuator (11) is coupled to the fifth bar (9d) by a pivoted joint (18e).

9. The multi-positional chair as claimed in one of the previous claims, wherein the upper part (2a), the middle part (2b) and the lower part (2c) are configured to assume one of a limit position from a group consisting a chair, a recliner, a bed, a Trendelenburg, and any intermediate position therein.

10. The multi-positional chair as claimed in claim 9, wherein the upper part (2a), the middle part (2b) and the lower part (2c) assume the Trendelenburg position from one of the limit positions or any of the intermediate positions in a predetermined time period.

11. The multi-positional chair as claimed in claim 10, wherein the predetermined time period lies in a range of 20 to 30 seconds, particularly preferably about 25 seconds.

12. The multi-positional chair as claimed in one of the previous claims, wherein the upper part, the middle part, and the lower part of the chair are provided with cushions (3a, 3b, 3c).

13. The multi-positional chair as claimed in one of the previous claims, wherein the chair further comprises a control device (17) to actuate the movement of the chair.

14. The multi-positional chair as claimed in claim 13, wherein the control device (17) is configured with at least four preset positions corresponding to at least the chair, the recliner, the bed, and the Trendelenburg positions.

15. The multi-positional chair, as claimed in claim 13 or 14, wherein the control device (17) comprises means to facilitate independent control of the at least two linear actuators (10, 11).

16. The multi-positional chair as claimed in one of the previous claims, wherein the chair comprises a manually adjustable footrest (15).

17. The multi-positional chair as claimed in claim 16, wherein the footrest (15) comprises a slotted plate (4), which facilitates an adjustment of the footrest (15).

18. The multi-positional chair as claimed in one of the previous claims, wherein the chair comprises a manually adjustable headrest (14).