Foldable Chair Armrest Locking for Safer Patient Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Chairs for patients with limited mobility often pose difficulties in ingress and egress due to armrests, which can hinder lateral movement, making it harder for patients to get on and off the chair safely and comfortably.
Innovation Solution
A chair design featuring a foldable armrest with an upper and lower portion that rotates around a horizontal axis, allowing the upper portion to be placed in an upright or folded position, with a locking mechanism to secure the upright position and facilitate easy user access, utilizing a hinge and a locking mechanism actuator for safe and secure operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the armrest is made fixed and rigid to provide stable support for the patient, then the patient's arm can be securely supported during medical procedures, but the patient's ability to ingress and egress laterally becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The armrest is designed with dynamic characteristics, allowing it to be locked in an upright position for stability during use, or unlocked to fold down to facilitate patient ingress and egress. The hinge mechanism enables the armrest to transition between fixed and movable states, resolving the contradiction between stability and accessibility.
2Ease of operation
If the armrest is made foldable to improve patient ingress and egress, then lateral access becomes easier, but the armrest may accidentally fold during use compromising patient safety
Solution Approach 1:
A locking mechanism is provided that can be activated before use to secure the armrest in the upright position. The locking mechanism engages protrusions with recesses to prevent accidental folding, while still allowing intentional folding when needed for patient access.
3Reliability
If a locking mechanism is added to secure the armrest in the upright position, then accidental folding is prevented, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is designed to be self-latching, where the protrusion and recess automatically engage when the armrest is in the upright position. The mechanism uses spring-loaded components that automatically lock and unlock based on the armrest position, eliminating the need for complex control systems or multiple locking components.
Data Source
AI summary
A chair that facilitates user ingress and egress has a chair support structure and a seat, a backrest, and at least one armrest coupled to the chair support structure. A lower portion of the armrest is coupled to the chair support structure and an upper portion of the armrest is coupled to the lower portion to allow rotation of the upper portion with respect to the lower portion around a horizontal axis that splits the armrest into the two portions. The upper portion can be placed in an upright position above the lower portion and a folded position alongside the lower portion by rotation of the upper portion around the horizontal axis. The upper portion can be locked in the upright position with a locking mechanism that can extend through both the lower portion and the upper portion to prevent rotation of the upper portion around the horizontal axis.