State of the Art Raising and turning supports or transfer stands of different kind are known in the art. The raising and turning supports of the prior art have normally a platform that may be turned in relation to a base. Some kind of frame is attached to the platform in such a way that the frame and platform rotate together. Somewhere on the frame a handle or grip is arranged for the patient to hold when he or she is standing. The handle or grip may also be used to raise oneself up or to sit down.

For convenience the expression"patient"is used throughout this description and it is to be understood to comprise any person in need of support, irrespective if that person is to be considered as a patient or not.

When a patient is to raise himself with the aid of a handle or grip on a frame, the ideal height of that handle varies. As long as the patient is sitting down he can only -. reach a handle that is placed in a rather low position. To pull himself up to a standing position using only his arms the handle should ideally be placed relatively high.

Furthermore, depending on the height of the patient the ideal position of the grip may vary quite substantially.

It is known in the prior art to have different means to vary the height of the grip depending on the user. This

functions well in theory but in practice the height of the grip is often not adjusted, due to stress, ignorance etc.

If the handle is placed horizontal, the patient automatically grips the handle in a way that uses his strength of the arms in the best possible way. If the patient has to twist his arms to grip the handle it will impair the use of the full strength of his arms.

To function well at institutions and in homes the raising support should be foldable for easy storing and transport.

Summary of the Invention One object with the present invention is that the ability of the patient to stand up and turn should be supported.

A further object with the present invention is that the raising and turning support should be easy to use, without any adjustments needed to different patients and/or situations. Thus, there will be no responsibility for assistant personal to assemble the raising and turning support. The raising and turning support should also be easy to fold, to facilitate storing and transport.

Still a further object with the present invention is that the patient should be supported and encouraged to use and, thus exercise his or her arms. Hereby the patient is encouraged to activate himself or herself.

A person skilled in the art realizes that the raising and turning support according to the present invention may be used for any person having problems raising and turning, but which is able to bear his own weight with support of something to hold on to.

The above objects are meet by a raising and turning support comprising a frame and a platform. The platform is received rotatable in relation to a base of the raising and turning support. The frame and base are connected non-

rotatably in relation to each other. The frame comprises a number of horizontal bars to be gripped by the patient, which bars are connected between two vertical posts.

Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will be described further below by way of an example with reference to the enclosed drawings. In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a raising and turning support according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a cross-section view of the base of the raising and turning support of Fig. 1 in a first position; and Fig. 3 is a cross-section view of the base of the raising and turning support of Fig. 1 in a second position.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments The raising and turning support comprises a bottom plate and a frame 2. The bottom plate is formed of a platform 1 and a base 15. The platform 1, on which the patient's feet are to be placed, is connected rotatably by means of a swivel 13 to the base 15. In the shown embodiment the base 15 will rest on the floor when the raising and turning support is placed in an upright position. When the base 15 is placed on the floor the rest of the raising support may be rotated in relation to the base 15, by means of the swivel 13. The relationship between the platform 1 and base 15 may be performed in many different ways known to a person skilled in the art, but as this is no part of the present invention it will not be described further here.

In the shown embodiment the frame 2 comprises two vertical posts 7 and a number of bars 3-6. In the shown embodiment there are four bars 3-6, but a person skilled in the art realizes that the number of bars 3-6 may vary in

different embodiments. The vertical posts are placed at the two corners of the platform 1 furthest from the patient. The bars 3-6 are connected to the two vertical posts 7 in a manner of a ladder, or wall bars. The upper bar 3 is placed at the upper end of the posts 7. The rest of the bars 4-6 are normally placed equidistant from each other. In other embodiments (not shown) the bars 3-6 are placed at varying distances from each other. The lower bar 6 is placed on a height making it convenient for a patient to grip said lowermost bar 6 and pull himself towards the frame 2. In the shown embodiment the upper and lower bars 3,6 are substantial horizontal, while the other bars 4,5 are angled in relation to the horizontal plane. The angle of the upper of the two angled bars 4,5 to the horizontal plane is somewhat bigger than the angle of the lower of said bars 4,5. As an example of suitable angles the upper 4 of the angled bars may have an angle of 30° to the horizontal plane, while the lower 5 of said bars may have an angle of 20°. The angles of said angled bars 4,5 normally varies between 10°-30° and 20°-40°, respectively.

The angles of the bars 4,5 are intended to optimize the grip and the power of the arms and hands.

The bars 3-6 are preferably flat, i. e. the width is larger than the height of each bar 3-6 seen in cross- section. A person skilled in the art realizes that other forms may be used, such as circular, oval, square, polygonal when seen in cross-section. Depending of the form of the bars 3-6 they may be angled as described above.

The frame 2 is connected to the platform 1 in a foldable manner. On each vertical post 7 a bracket 10 is arranged displaceable a short distance. A horizontal rib 18 is connected between the brackets 10 on each post 7. A locking plate 17 is arranged inside of each vertical post 7. The locking plates 17 have a recess 19 to receive and lock the rib 18, and thus the frame 2 in an upright

position. Furthermore, a protrusion 11 is arranged on each bracket 10, close to the lower end of each vertical post 7.

The protrusions 11 are to be received and locked in openings 12 of the platform 1. When the frame 2 is in the upright position as shown in Fig. 2 and is to be folded to the position shown in Fig. 3, the rib 18 are lifted from the recesses 19 of the locking plates 17. This is done in that the brackets 10 are moved a short distance. Then the frame is fold forward until the protrusions 11 goes into the locking holes 14 of the platform 1. A folding in the opposite direction is done in the reversed order, i. e. first is the brackets 10 slid by means of the rib 18 a short distance so that the protrusions 11 may leave the holes 14 and then is the frame 2 folded down. Each bracket 10 is biased by a spring (not shown) to a position where the frame is locked in either of the positions shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Thus, the frame 2 is automatically locked both when it reaches the upright position and the position folded to the platform 1. A person skilled in the art realizes that the locking of the frame 2 and platform 1 in different positions may be done in many different ways.

The raising and turning support has wheels 16 placed adjacent the position where the frame 2 is attached to the platform 1. The wheels 16 are used to move the raising and turning support when the bottom plate, thus the platform 1 and base 15 is in the position folded into the frame 2. The wheels 16 may also be used when the platform 1 is in the position folded out from the frame, if the raising and turning support is leaned backwards.

In the shown embodiment a kneepad 8 is attached to the lowermost bar 6 and the posts 7 of the frame 2. Said kneepad 8 is normally optional, i. e. the user may renounce the kneepad 8.

At that side of the platform 1 at which the frame 2 is attached a support plate 9 is placed connected to the

platform 1. The function of the support plate 9 is that an assistant should place his or her foot on the support plate 9. This is done at the same time as the assistant is gripping the frame in order that the raising and turning support will not move when the patient is using the raising and turning support.

A roller 14 is placed at the front of the platform 1, which roller 14 is used to facilitate positioning of the raising and turning support close to the patient. If the raising and turning support is leaned forwardly enough for the base 15 to leave the floor, the raising support and turning may be rolled on the roller 14.

The transfer from e. g. a wheelchair to a chair and/or toilet is normally performed in the following way using the raising and turning support of the present invention. First an assistant is bringing the raising and turning support to a position in front of the patient. The raising and turning support is placed with the platform 1 turned towards the patient, whereby the roller 14 may be used to place the raising and turning support in an appropriate position for the patient. Then the patient places his or her feet on the platform 1. The assistant place himself or herself behind the raising and turning support with one foot one the support plate 9 and holding the frame 2. This is done to stabilize the raising and turning support making it possible for the patient to raise himself (or herself).

Normally the patient grips the lowermost bar 6 and pull himself to a position suitable for raising. In that position the lower legs are placed somewhat under the patient and the upper body is leaning forward. The centre of gravity of the patient is brought forward over the legs as he pulls himself closer to the raising and turning support and assumes the above stated position suitable for raising. This is done in order to be able to use the muscles of the legs and the strength of the arms in a

physiologically natural pattern of movement to come up to a raised position. The next step is that the patient starts to raise himself by consecutively gripping the bars 3,4,5 placed higher and higher. Thus, it could be said that the patient raises himself by climbing with the hands on the ladder of the frame 2 formed of the bars 3-6. For a tall person it may be more comfortable to grip one of the higher bars or even the uppermost bar 3 directly. When the patient is standing the assistant will rotate the raising and turning support, i. e. the platform 1 and the frame 2 into the position at which the patient is to sit down on another piece of furniture. The patient sets himself down by acting in the opposite way as stated above. Thus, he will climb down the ladder with his hands at the same time as his centre of gravity is moved backwards, which means that the patient will not fall the last part of the movement to the chair etc.

When using a raising and turning support according to the present invention, in which a patient climbs with his hands on a ladder or the like, the movement to raise oneself and to sit down may be done in a natural way. The centre of gravity is moved in the same way for a patient using the raising and turning support as for a person not needing any assistance in raising or sitting down.