Care Robot Sheet Transfer Mechanism for Caregiver Back Injury Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current care methods for transferring aged or physically handicapped individuals from beds to wheelchairs place a heavy burden on caregivers, leading to back injuries and occupational diseases, as existing care robots are complex and difficult to operate effectively.
Innovation Solution
A care method and robot system that involves a custom care sheet with holding parts for the robot arms, allowing the robot to lift and transfer care receivers from beds to wheelchairs without requiring caregivers to lift them, utilizing a combination of rising and falling shafts, rotative elements, and control panels for precise operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a carrier is used to assist in transferring care receivers, then the burden on carers is reduced, but the complex construction makes it difficult to handle
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into a base unit and separate rising/falling shaft assemblies that can be independently positioned and operated. Each shaft can be controlled separately to adjust the arms at different heights, allowing simple operational steps without requiring complex coordinated movements of a monolithic structure
Solution Approach 2:
The rising and falling shafts provide dynamic height adjustment capability, allowing the arms to adapt to different transfer heights between bed and wheelchair. This dynamic adjustment replaces complex fixed-structure mechanisms with simpler movable components that can be positioned as needed
2Device complexity
If manual transfer methods are used, then the equipment is simple, but the carer bears heavy burden and suffers back injuries
Solution Approach 1:
The device enables self-service transfer by allowing the care receiver to be lifted and positioned using the robot's automated arm movements controlled by the carer. The rising and falling shafts provide the lifting force, eliminating the need for carers to manually lift and bear the weight of care receivers
Solution Approach 2:
Manual mechanical lifting by carers is replaced with an automated robotic system featuring rising and falling shafts that provide controlled lifting motion. This substitution eliminates the physical strain on carers while maintaining simple operational control through a control panel
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~1(d)
Figure 2
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AI summary
Provided are a care method that can simplify care and reduce the burden on a carer, in particular the burden on the carer during the transfer of a care receiver. Also provided is a care robot. A sheet 30 is spreaded out on top of a bed, and the care receiver is made to lie on the sheet 30. The sheet is formed so that both ends thereof have parts 31 to be held that are held by arms 5b of a robot R. The robot R and the arms 5b are positioned relative to the care receiver, and the robot R is moved forward towards the bed so that the arms 5b are holding the parts 31 to be held. The arms 5b are raised by prescribed amount, and when the arms 5b are in the raised state, the robot R is moved backwards away from the bed.