FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the present invention relates to patient lift or transfer devices. In particular, apparatus and methods are disclosed for supporting and lifting a person in a seated position, e.g., for being lifted or transferred.

BACKGROUND

Some previous examples of a patient lift or transfer devices are disclosed in:U.S. Pat. No. 1,971,294 entitled “Invalid handling device” issued Aug. 21, 1934 to Bunker;GB 789,468 entitled “Apparatus for lifting invalids” issued Jan. 22, 1958 to Watson et al;GB 813,618 entitled “A sling seat” issued May 21, 1959 to Priestman et al;DE 8131985.1 issued May 13, 1982 to Schallerer et al;U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,512 entitled “Swing seat unit” issued Sep. 15, 1987 to Hobson;U.S. Pat. No. 7,328,467 entitled “Patient lift and transfer device” issued Feb. 12, 2008 to Aarestad;U.S. Pat. No. 9,107,789 entitled “Invalid toileting safety sling” issued Aug. 18, 2015 to Brandorff et al; andU.S. Pat. No. 10,631,647 entitled “Foldable hanging chair” issued Apr. 28, 2020 to Wu et al.

SUMMARY

An inventive apparatus for supporting and lifting a person comprises a rigid frame, a flexible sheet, and a pair of rigid rods. The rigid frame including (i) a left upright member, (ii) an open-ended left tube attached to a bottom end of the left upright member in a longitudinal arrangement, (iii) a right upright member, (iv) an open-ended right tube attached to a bottom end of the right upright member in a longitudinal arrangement, and (v) one or more cross members connecting together the left and right upright members in a transversely spaced-apart arrangement. The frame is sufficiently wide to straddle thighs or hips of the person between the left and right tubes. The sheet of flexible material has (i) top, bottom, left side, and right side edges, (ii) a pair of collinear left sleeves attached to a lower portion of the left edge with a gap therebetween at least as long as a length of the left tube, and (iii) a pair of collinear right sleeves attached to a lower portion of the right edge with a gap therebetween at least as long as a length of the right tube. An upper portion of the sheet and corresponding upper portions of the left and right side edges extend beyond the pairs of left and right sleeves toward the top edge of the sheet; a lower portion of the sheet is at least as wide between the left and right sleeves as distance between the left and right tubes. A left rod of the pair is longer than the left tube and can be inserted through the left tube and at least partly through the left sleeves; a right rod of the pair is longer than the right tube can be inserted through the right tube and at least partly through the right sleeves. One or both of an upper portion of the frame or the upper portion of the sheet is structurally arranged so as to enable attachment of the upper portion of the sheet to, and detachment of the upper portion of the sheet from, the upper portion of the frame.

With: (i) the left tube positioned in the gap between the left sleeves, and the left rod positioned through the left tube and at least partly within both of the left sleeves; (ii) the right tube positioned in the gap between the right sleeves, and the right rod positioned through the right tube and at least partly within both of the right sleeves; and (iii) the upper portion of the sheet attached to the upper portion of the frame, the sheet forms a support for the person. The lower portion of the sheet forms a horizontal seat portion of the support, and the upper portion of the sheet forms an upright back portion of the support.

Objects and advantages pertaining to patient support or lift apparatus may become apparent upon referring to the example embodiments illustrated in the drawings and disclosed in the following written description or appended claims.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

