Tub Transfer Bench: A bathtub-accessing system for elderly people

Futuristic bathrooms are all well and good in terms of highfalutin features. But the predicament of most bathroom designs still remain with their disadvantage of accumulated slippery water on the floor and tub which can cause serious injury, especially to elderly and differently enabled people. Fortunately, there are some conceptions that take the conscientious route of serving the said demographics. The innovative Tub Transfer Bench (by Shuangxin Chen) falls in this exclusive category.

Envisaged as a simple solution that will allow the user to take his/her bath more efficiently and safely, the conceptual design comprises of an entire system dedicated to bathtubs. In regular times, the Tub Transfer Bench can be kept across the width of the tub. This will allow people from wheelchairs to easily transfer their body weight inside the tub with the help of the laid out support.

However, there is more to this support bench than that meets the eye. For example, there are hidden airbags below the transfer board. These bags can be controlled to deflate, which collapses the flexible board gradually inside the tub. As a result of this ‘sinking’ process, the person also gets submerged in the tub, albeit in a safe manner.

The folding facades of the board are lined with foam mat to improve upon the comfort level. And, when the user wants to get out of the tub, he can reversely inflate the airbags (presumably via a control mechanism) that once again brings the board back to the tub’s upper level.

So basically, the Tub Transfer Bench alludes to a semi-autonomous aiding system that caters to the user on a personal level. And, the impressive part is – it does so with a relatively simple and portable mechanism that is unobtrusive to the original bathroom decor.

Via: Coroflot