Development of Bed Sheet Exchanger for Handicapped People.

This paper presents a simple, cheap and effective sheet exchanger composed of four rolling cylinders because it is a troublesome task to change a bed sheet for a bedridden person. To change a bed sheet, while a cylinder wind the used sheet, the new sheet wound around another cylinder is spread under the body with advance of the device. The system composed of the exchanger, a person lying on the bed and an operator was investigated. It is found that the energy for driving dissipates immediately during operation. According to the result, necessary torque to drive the device is less than 4 Nm. Therefore, it can be driven easily by hands or by a small electric motor.