JP4953263B2 - Nursing care device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for assisting a person (caregiver) who cares for an elderly person or a sick person (hereinafter referred to as a care recipient).
[0002]
[Prior art]
Lifting the cared person lying on the bed to prevent bathing and bed slipping is a physically burdensome work for the carer. This work is particularly burdensome on the lower back of the caregiver, causing back pain and fatigue.
[0003]
Various devices for reducing the work load have been proposed. For example, JP-A- 6-269478 proposes a method of fixing a lift to a bed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-237899 proposes a traveling movable lift that lifts a cared person with a hydraulic jack. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-87908 proposes a lift-type nursing care wear that can lift a cared person with a stable body shape.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
All of these lift the cared person, but in fact, when placing the cared person on the platform of such a lifting device or when wearing a care aid (auxiliary) A problem remains in that the cared person must be lifted, and the caregiver is burdened at that time.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in order to solve such problems. The purpose of the present invention is to reduce the burden on the caregiver during the care of the cared person and to reduce the back pain and fatigue of the caregiver. It is to provide an apparatus for preventing.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The care assisting device according to the present invention made to solve the above problems is
a) a load sensor provided between the caregiver's foot and the floor;
b) a lifting device that lifts a caregiver wearing tool that is worn only on the upper body from the waist by a motor;
c) a control device for controlling the motor of the lifting device based on the load detected by the load sensor;
It is characterized by providing.
[0007]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
A schematic configuration of the care assisting apparatus according to the present invention is as shown in FIG. The load sensors 11a and 11b are provided on the bottom of shoes or slippers of the caregiver 10, or are provided on the floor itself or on a bed or a pedestal laid on the floor. When provided on the bottom of shoes or slippers, load sensors 11a and 11b are provided on both feet, and the total load detected by both is used as a load value.
[0008]
The caregiver 10 wears the caregiver wearing tool 12 on the upper body. For example, a mode such as brushing is applied, and a force for lifting around the lower sternum of the caregiver is applied.
[0009]
When trying to lift a human, it is common to fix the crotch and upper body (recall for example parachute etc.). In this case, the lifting force is mainly applied to the lower body (inseam). The reason why the upper body is mainly lifted in the present invention is primarily to truly protect the caregiver. As described above, the largest load for the caregiver 10 is the load on the waist 10a. That is, it can be said that the big problem in the care field is a countermeasure for the back pain of the caregiver 10. When lifted from the crotch, the condition that the weight W _P of the cared person 15 is applied to the lower back (lumbar vertebra) 10a of the carer 10 is not solved mechanically, and it is not a countermeasure for back pain. By lifting the upper body as in the present invention, a true countermeasure for back pain can be taken.
[0010]
Second, it is to reduce the sense of restraint given to the caregiver. When wearing from the crotch, even if the wearing device is an open type like a strap, the entire upper body is covered with the wearing device in order to lift the person safely while maintaining the posture. The caregiver feels that the entire upper body has been restrained. In fact, the degree of freedom of movement of the upper body is restricted, and detailed care operation becomes difficult. On the other hand, in the device according to the present invention, only the upper part of the upper body is substantially restrained from the vicinity of the chest, so that the lower part can be moved freely. Therefore, the upper body can be moved relatively freely, and a detailed care operation can be performed.
[0011]
Third, it is because the ease of mounting is taken into consideration. If you try to wear it from the crotch, the device will inevitably become a large scale, and women wearing a skirt are hesitant to wear it as it is. On the other hand, by wearing only the upper body, any number of people can immediately wear and enter a care posture when necessary.
[0012]
In the present invention, the lifting force is mainly applied to the upper body of the caregiver by attaching the caregiver wearing tool 12 to the upper body, but it is excluded that the lifting force is additionally applied to the lower body. It is not a thing. The “upper body” may include an arm. In other words, it takes a little time to the attachment, but freedom of the arm of behavior is somewhat constrained, when the body weight W _P of the care-receiver 15 is large, more than those constraints, it is necessary anyway lift the cared person 15 is there. In this case, in addition to the chest, a caregiver wearing tool that assists the lower body and both arms in a range that does not cause a significant hindrance to the care operation may be used.
[0013]
The control device 20 controls the motor 21 of the lifting device based on the loads (F _F1 and F _F2 ) detected by the load sensors 11 a and 11 b and applies a lifting force to the upper body of the caregiver 10. It may be lifted with almost 100% of the load (F _F1 + F _F2 ) detected by the load sensors 11a and 11b, but with a force obtained by subtracting about 30 to 100% of the weight of the caregiver 10 from the detected load. It is desirable to lift it. The weight (W _C1 + W _C2 ) of the caregiver 10 is measured in advance (or a value self-declared by the caregiver is not required) and input to the control device 20. That is, the lifting force F _A is a value obtained by adding the weight W _C1 of the upper half of the caregiver 10 (above the lumbar vertebrae) to W _P at the maximum with the lower limit of the body weight W _P of the care recipient 15 (W _P + W _C1 ) (Thus, the value subtracted from the detected load (F _F1 + F _F2 ) is W _C2 to (W _C1 + W _C2 )).
[0014]
The gist of the present invention is to assist the caregiver 10 in the care operation, and it is assumed that the caregiver 10 itself can support his / her own weight. That is, in the case of ordinary caregiver 10, when lifting the cared person 15, a minimum, it is sufficient to compensate by force lifting the weight W _P of the care-receiver 15. On the other hand, if the lifting force exceeds that value, the caregiver 10 is almost lifted, and the free action (care operation) of the caregiver 10 is restricted.
[0015]
Since the loads (F _F1 and F _F2 ) detected by the load sensors 11a and 11b vary depending on the caregiver 10's operation, the control device 20 does not directly use the output signal but uses the output signal through a low-pass filter. It is desirable. By appropriately setting the time constant of the low-pass filter, the caregiver 10 reacts excessively to the unconscious movement, applies an unexpected force to the caregiver 10, and gives the caregiver 10 discomfort (this) Thus, sufficient assistance can be provided for the conscious movement of the caregiver 10 while preventing the intention to use the caregiver wearing device 12).
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 2, the lifting device includes a lifting position correcting device 22 that can move the lifting point 13 of the caregiver wearing tool 12 in a horizontal plane, and the wire attachment point of the lifting point 13 and the caregiver wearing tool. You may provide the wire inclination sensor 24 which detects the inclination angle of the two directions from the perpendicular line of the wire 23 which connects 12a. In this case, the control device 20 moves the lifting point 13 so that the detected inclination angle θ of the wire 23 is close to zero. Thereby, it is prevented that a lateral force (tensile force) is applied to the caregiver 10, and the caregiver 10 is given pure auxiliary force only in the vertical direction.
[0017]
As such a lifting position correcting device, in addition to the mechanism using the rotation and the one-dimensional linear movement shown in FIG. 2, a two-dimensional linear moving mechanism using a parallel rail as shown in FIG. Good.
[0018]
When the lifting point 13 is movable in a plane, a foot position sensor 25 for detecting the position of the foot on the caregiver's floor may be further provided (FIG. 2). The control device 20 moves the lifting point 13 of the wire 23 in accordance with the position of the foot detected by the foot position sensor 25 instead of or in addition to the detected wire inclination angle θ. Thereby, the movement of the upper body of the caregiver 10 can be detected in advance, and the lifting point can be moved quickly.
[0019]
The foot position sensor 25 includes, for example, a combination of a magnet provided on a shoe or the like and a magnetic sensor provided on the floor, a transmitter provided on the shoe or the like, a receiver provided in the room, a light emitting device or marker provided on the shoe or the like, and the room. The image sensor etc. which were provided in can be comprised.
[0020]
The lifting device 22 may further be provided with a wire feeding length sensor 26 for detecting the feeding length of the wire 23. When the caregiver 10 tilts the upper body forward or squats to lift the care receiver 15, the wire feeding length becomes long. Therefore, the control device 20 increases the lifting force (motor torque) when starting preparation for starting the motor 21 is started when the wire feeding length is increased, or when the lifting is already performed with a certain level of force. .
[0021]
As described above, the caregiver wearing device 12 is lifted by the motor 21 via the wire 23, and it is desirable to provide a damper (buffer) 27 at any location between the caregiver wearing device 12 and the motor 21. . This is because it does not prevent the caregiver 10 from moving in the vertical direction, and conversely, when the motor is activated, the caregiver 10 and the care receiver 15 are not suddenly moved (shocked).
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a care assisting device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram when various attachment devices are attached to the care assisting device. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a lifting position correcting device using a two-dimensional linear movement mechanism using parallel rails.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Caregiver 10a ... Caregiver's waist 11a, 11b ... Load sensor 12 ... Caregiver wearing tool 12a ... Wire attachment point 13 ... Lifting point 15 ... Care recipient 20 ... Control device 21 ... Motor 22 ... Position correction device 23 ... Wire 24 ... Wire inclination sensor 25 ... Foot position sensor 26 ... Wire feed length sensor 27 ... Damper (buffer)

Claims (6)

a) a load sensor provided between the caregiver's foot and the floor;
b) a lifting device that lifts a caregiver wearing tool that is worn only on the upper body from the waist by a motor;
c) a control device for controlling the motor of the lifting device based on the load detected by the load sensor;
A care assisting device comprising:   The care assisting device according to claim 1, wherein the control device controls the caregiver wearing device to be lifted with a force obtained by subtracting a part of the weight of the caregiver inputted in advance from the load detected by the load sensor.   The lifting device includes a lifting position correcting device capable of moving a lifting point of a caregiver wearing tool in a horizontal plane, and a wire inclination angle for detecting an inclination angle from a vertical line of a wire connecting the lifting point and the caregiver wearing tool. The care assisting device according to claim 2, further comprising: a sensor, wherein the control device controls the lifting point to move so that an inclination angle thereof is close to zero.   Furthermore, a foot position sensor for detecting the position of the foot on the caregiver's floor is provided, and the control device lifts the wire according to the detected foot position so that the detected tilt angle of the wire is close to zero. The care assisting device according to claim 3, wherein the care assisting device is controlled to move the point.   5. The care assisting device according to claim 3, wherein the lifting device includes a wire feeding length sensor that detects a feeding length of the wire, and the control device changes the lifting control according to the detected wire feeding length.   The nursing care auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a damper is provided between the motor and the caregiver wearing tool.

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