This invention pertains to the area of devices for assisting persons suffering from a handicap or disability, even of a transient nature, which keeps them from making full or proper use of their arm joints or shoulders. The inventor of this invention has noted that, owing to conditions of arthrosis, arthritis, etc, as well as to simply the sequelae of previous traumas involving the arms, the shoulders and/or the torso, many people, particularly those of advanced years, experience serious and sometimes insurmountable problems in donning garments equipped with sleeves, e.g., shirts, jackets, or overcoats.

The inventor has thus set himself the goal of providing a device which, while being simple and practical, is able to actually assist users in donning garments of the type described, allowing them to avoid making the unnatural movements and the contortions that would often be necessary otherwise.

Such a device, which constitutes the object of this invention, is characterized by the characterizing portion of Claim 1 .

The operation of said device and the advantages that are achieved with it will be made clearer in the detailed description that will be provided, in which reference will also be made to the

attached drawings, where:

- Fig. 1 presents a schematic side view of a device according to the invention, showing the paths of the grasping members with respect to the user's body; - Fig. 2 presents a side view with a partial cut-away o an embodiment of the invention in which the moving of the movable parts is done by means of a screw-and-nut system;

- Fig. 3 shows a front view of the embodiment of Fig. 2;

- Fig. 4 presents a side view with a partial cut-away o another embodiment of the invention in which the moving parts ar moved by means of a system of tie rods and pulleys;

- Fig. 5 shows a front view of the embodiment of Fig. 4

- Fig. 6 shows the same view as Fig. 3 with a shir suspended at the instant when the device begins to operate. The inventor has determined how it is possible to assis a person in donning a garment that is equipped with sleeves b suspending, with appropriate pincers, garment 10 in the vertica extended position (see Fig. 6), with the entry holes of the sleeve opened wide, and by causing the pincers themselves to travel alon a path (Fig. 1 ) in such a way as to raise the garment (segment v) into whose sleeves the user has first slipped his hands, up to th height of the shoulders, and then moving it approximatel horizontally (segment o) toward the user's body until the collar o garment 10 has reached a point near the neck. By now unlocking pincers 4, opening them and releasin garment 10, the user will now have donned the garment withou

having had to rotate his arms or torso.

To accomplish this, the device in question can be implemented in a number of different ways, two of which that are favored by the inventor (but which are neither limiting nor restrictive) are described below.

In the first embodiment (Figs. 2 and 3) the support structures used are two hollow tubular elements (2) which have a vertical segment and a basically horizontal segment; said segments are connected by a curved part. Both of the tubular elements have a full-length groove 8 over virtually their entire length.

In the lower part of each tubular element 2, on the inside, are the following: a threaded pin 9 and a nut 10 that is engaged with said pin and is firmly attached to a boat 1 1 , which is also aligned coaxially inside tubular element 2.

At the upper end of said boat is attached a helical spring 1 2 which is of a predetermined length and is selected in such a way as to have considerable flexibility, and to the upper end of said spring 1 2 are attached pincers 4, which are shaped and attached in such a way as to be able to slide along said full-length groove 8, extending outside of tubular element 2, with its parts being prepositioned for grasping a garment.

Nut 10 is mounted by known methods in such a way that, after threaded pin 9 is turned and since said nut is coaxial inside of said pin, said nut is able to translate only and cannot be dragged along with the rotational movement owing to the friction

of threaded pin 9 itself. The latter is attached at its lower end to transmission parts, which are either toothed or of another type and which, by means of known systems, connect them to a small electric motor 6 mounted on support base 1 , which supports tubular elements 2. When small motor 6 drives, its rotation causes threaded pin 9 to rotate and consequently causes nut 1 0 to translate, along with boat 1 1 which is securely attached to said nut, consequently causing helical spring 12 and pincers 4, which are attached to said nut, to turn as well. When small motor 6 drives in the upward direction of pincers 4, said pincers then slide along groove 8 and travel along an essentially L-shaped path (corresponding to v, o, c in Fig. 1 ) along tubular element 2 which is associated with said element. The last, approximately horizontal segment can, in point of fact, be traversed owing to the flexibility of spring 1 2, which readily adapts to the shape of said tubular element 2.

The same thing occurs with regard to other tubular element 2, and since the transmission parts between small motor 6 and two threaded pins 9 are dimensioned in such a way as to ensure the identical linear movement of two pincers 4 as motor 6 accomplishes the same rotation, the garment (10 in Fig. 6) is lifted parallel to itself in the way described above.

The inventor states that small motor 6 is to be actuated by means of a pedal switch 7 located in the lower part of support base 1 of the device.

When depressed, said pedal 7 can cause the motor to

drive in such a way as to raise pincers 4 and lower them when released, or said pedal can regulate the various phase of the operation with the aid of a programmer device of a known type that is already used for household appliances, or it can operate in different ways as dictated by the particular requirements of the user.

Pincers 4 are thus equipped with basically known mechanical or magnetic systems which cause them to release and open when they reach their end-of-travel positions at the ends of the horizontal segments, thus releasing the garment, which has now been donned.

A second sample embodiment is depicted in Figs. 4 and 5. The operation of the device is quite similar to that described above, and all of the various working parts are also quite similar, except for those which are prepositioned in order to convey motion between small electric motor 6 and helical springs 1 2 which support pincers 4. As said Figs. 4 and 5 show, said pincers are composed of a system of retractable tie rods 14 which interconnect motor 6 and springs 1 2, and ultimately pincers 4, via return pulleys 15 in such a way as to be able to move said pincers themselves in both directions of motion, thereby ensuring the identical translation each time said small electric motor 6 accomplishes the same rotation.

The individual design details are not presented here since they refer to drive systems which are otherwise familiar to persons skilled in the art.

The power supplied by small electric drive motor 6 is

selected in such a way as to be able to accomplish one operating cycle within a reasonably short time without, however, giving rise to the risk of pulling on or otherwise injuring the user through abrupt movements. In order to achieve good results along these lines, the inventor calls for inserting a friction coupling between the small motor and the devices driven by it, regardless of what form said parts may take in various embodiments, in such a way as to limit the torque that can be transmitted in any case. This kind of clever approach is not depicted but is readily imaginable for one skilled in the field of mechanics.

In order to make it possible for the device to be used regardless of the user's height, the inventor has thus made provision for designing support base 1 overall in such a way as to be adjustable in height by means of, e.g., coaxial telescoping or toothed devices which are equipped with a locking device 1 '.

It is obvious that the two examples described and depicted here do not exhaust all of the possible embodiments of a device according to the invention, which embodiments can be implemented by modifying the shape or the component parts, but even such embodiments will remain within the scope of the protection conferred by this patent application since they are based on what is presented in the attached claims.