Portable seat lift for use in bathtubs

Claim 1

A portable seat lift for a bathtub comprising: a. a base for mounting on the bathtub floor; b. a pair of opposed, upstanding, parallel, transversely spaced, cylinders secured by their lower ends to said base, said cylinders being provided respectively with piston rods protruding upwardly through the upper ends of said cylinders, said pistons being moveable between retracted positions and extended positions; c. a seat disposed between said cylinders for supporting a person in a seated position thereon, said seat extending longitudinally forwardly and rearwardly of said opposed cylinders so as to dispose the seated person in an unobstructed area between said cylinders; d. a pair of arms disposed between said cylinders and connected by their upper ends respectively to the upper end portions of said rods for movement therewith, said arms extending from said rods downwardly inwardly adjacent said cylinders and being connected by their lower end portions to opposite sides of said seat, said arms being transversely between said cylinders and shielding the body of said person seated on said seat from engagement with said cylinders, said arms being sufficiently long that, when said rods are in their retracted positions, said seat is disposed adjacent to said floor of said bathtub so that said person may recline in said bathtub while remaining on said seat and, when said rods are in their extended positions, said seat is raised so as to lift the person seated therein to a raised position above said floor; e. means for directing water from the faucet of said tub into said cylinders for applying hydraulic pressure for extending of said rods, said means including a valve having an inlet and an outlet and selectively moveable between a first position in which the water passes from said faucet into said cylinders to extend said rods and a second position for releasing said water from said cylinders through said outlet into said bathtub to permit said rods to retract; said valve including a third position for sealing off the hydraulic cylinders from said inlet and said outlet to maintain said rods and said seat in stationary positions; and f. a lever mounted for movement with said seat, and a throttle cable extending from said lever to said valve for interconnecting the same to permit the positioning of said valve to be controlled by manipulation of said lever.