Device for assisting handicapped persons to get into and out of a bathtub

Claim 1

A self-assistance device enabling handicapped people to get into and out of a bathtub, including in combination: a base adapted to rest on the bottom of the bathtub, bearing means supported by said base, a shaft supported by said bearing means and extending laterally above said base, said shaft having pinion means adjacent each end, and, adjacent one end, a pair of ratchet wheels of opposite tooth, control clutch and lever means having pawl means for engagement with both said ratchet wheels, one at a time, selection means for selecting which ratchet wheel is to be engaged by pawl means, and rocking means for enabling the control clutch and lever means to be moved fore-and-aft, whereby with a selected pawl means engaging its selected ratchet wheel the shaft is rotated in one direction during an active stroke and left there during an idle stroke in the opposite direction, while with the other selected pawl means, the active stroke is in the opposite direction and causes the shaft to move in the opposite direction, a pair of rack means slidable fore-and-aft over said base, one said rack means being in engagement with each said pinion means, an arm pivotally attached to one end of each of said rack means and extending over said rack means in the same general vertical plane, each said arm being pivoted to enable swinging in that plane, said arm also having a distal end supporting first roller Means and second roller means thereon, a pair of vertically inclined track means each extending foreand-aft and supported by said base, each engaging a first said roller means along an inclined plane, a pair of support members, each pivotally mounted to said track means for swinging movement in a vertical plane and each having a cam surface engaged by a said second roller means, whereby operation of said control clutch means causes said pinion means to move said rack means fore or aft, depending upon which ratchet means is in engagement with a said pawl means, thereby causing said arms to move fore or aft in the same direction as said rack means, so that their said first roller means move up said inclined planes of said track means and their said second roller means thereupon elevate or lower said support members, depending on whether said arms are moving fore or aft, a cross rod tightly secured to the upper ends of both said support members and joining them rigidly, an upper plate supported pivotally at one end by said cross rod, auxiliary support means hinged at one extremity to said base and at the other extremity to said upper plate, and a seat member swivel-mounted to said upper plate, whereby said seat member is raised and lowered by raising and lowering said support members and said seat member is kept parallel to said base during said raising and lowering.