Patent Application
20150296977
The present invention relates to a bed table for use by patients confined to a bed or the like.
The problems attendant the provision of a sturdy and inexpensive bed table to be mounted directly to a bed and concealed during non-use has long plagued the art. It has been common practice that a bedridden patient will typically take his or her food from a tray which may be either rested on the bedclothes themselves, supported from the bed by foldable legs or maybe carried from a wheeled carriage which may be maneuvered about the patient's bedroom or hospital room to be moved into place positioning the table top cantilevered over the lap of the reclined patient during meal time and then wheeled away for storage in the corner of the room or the like. This, of course, creates clutter and is not preferred by hospital personnel and care givers.
The shortcomings of these devices have been repeatedly addressed by those working in the art. Various types of bedrail mounted table devices have been proposed, many of which are intended to store the table top in the space beneath the mattress during nonuse or, in some instances, store the table top behind the bed board. Examples of devices proposing under mattress storage include, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,543,312 to Pofferi, U.S. Pat. No. 1,862,237 to Pepler, U.S. Pat. No. 1,231,678 to Walker and U.S. Pat. No. 2,612,422 to Sarkus.
The Walker patent discloses a rather complicated mechanism including a telescopical pipe carried on its lower end from a bracket to thus mount a table top so that the table top may be lowered from its horizontal position to above the patient's lap to a horizontal position disposed beneath the bed. The Walker patent shows an angular stand pipe to be mounted with the horizontal run mounted to the bed rail and the vertical rung mounted to the angular support rod to be telescoped and pivoted relative to the stand pipe. A table top is pivotally carried from the horizontal rung of the running rod so that the stand pipe may be rotated downwardly to a lowered position to collapse the table top underneath the bed mattress. Such a device, while convenient for displaying the table over the patient's lap fails to provide sturdy support for the table top while the patient dines and requires significant space in and about and underneath the bed for orbiting of the table top to its stored position beneath the mattress.
The Sarkus U.S. Pat. No. 2,612,422 proposes a rather complicated mechanism including four knuckles and an angular table intended to be orbited about the serving position to a location behind the bed board during non-use. Such a mechanism is inherently unstable in supporting the table itself and requires significant clearance behind the bed board for manipulating the table into its storage position.
Other efforts to solve the problems has led to a proposal for a powered hospital bed including a drive mechanism to be mounted beneath the bed for powering the table from its serving position to a folded position stored underneath the bed. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,145 to Rowe. Such devices, while convenient if they should operate properly, are relatively complicated and expensive to manufacture and maintain.
A narrow box received in the space between the side of a mattress and a bed rail and pivotally mounting a stand for rotation for a horizontal retracted position to a raised, vertical position and a table top carried pivotally from the top of the stand.
Referring to
With the aging of the American population, the need for convalescence is expected to grow significantly in the coming years thus fueling an interest in devices making convalescence more comfortable the older population. Persons 65 years and older was counted at 40 million in 2009 representing almost 13% of the US population. By 2030 it is projected that there will be about 72 million older persons, more than twice the number in 2000. Thus it would be expected that there will be more convalescence with patients confined to a bed.
There are millions of conventional or hospital beds presently in use which might be used for certain periods of time while patients are bedridden. While numerous devices have been proposed for use with beds of this type to facilitate serving meals to the patient and the like, to date none have been proposed which provide a convenient retrofit apparatus which can be inexpensively manufactured and conveniently installed in existing beds to provide a sturdy support for a table top which may be loaded with food and related materials having some significant weight and which are often loaded unevenly on the table top. It is this need for a device to retrofit beds to provide a convenient and sturdy mechanism for serving the patient's meals and the like which is solved by the present invention.
Typically, in the preferred embodiment, my device is constructed of metal or plastic or the like. Referring to
Referring to
For my preferred embodiment, I have constructed my stand 21 with an adjusted height of between 2 and 3 feet and a width of approximately 7 inches to provide a sturdy support and a cooperative relationship with the box to afford extra support for the stand itself. For the preferred embodiment I have selected a pair of female square stem tubes 61 and 63 having a cross section of about 1 inch and a cross rung 65 connecting the lower ends of such tubes, the juncture between the rung 65 and tube 61 being configured with the pivot bore for receipt of the pivot pin 41 (
Referring to
Referring to
In operation, it will be appreciated that the retrofit table top apparatus of the present invention can be conveniently packaged in a shipping package for inventorying by a retail outlet or shipping to customers of a website and upon receipt, the installation will be relatively straightforward. As an example, the apparatus may be retrofitted to a bed by merely positioning the mounting box 27 on the inside surface 33 of the bed rail and positioned forwardly or rearwardly along the rail to the location most convenient to the patient intended to rest on the mattress 31. Fasteners may then be inserted through the pre-drilled bores 57 in the box 27 to secure the box in position on the rail and oriented with the open sides facing upwardly and rearwardly. The table 45 will then be in position for ready use or storage, supported in its raised position against the top of the stand 21 tipping inwardly as the table is loaded and against twisting should the free end of the table be bumped.
To be stored, the table will be rotated about the pivot pins 85 to its extended position co-extensive with the plane of the stand 21 as shown in
As noted, when the stand 21 is rotated to the vertical position shown in
Then, as the table top 41 is loaded with materials, such as, for instance, a newspaper, drinking water, a breakfast meal and other possible weights such as photographs of loved ones and the like, the table top will be firmly supported by the stand 21 as constrained within the walls 35 and 37 of the box 27 and supported by the rigid underframe 81.
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the retrofit bed table device of the present invention provides for inexpensive manufacture, convenient and straight forward installation and in a relatively confined space and provides for firm and solid support for the table top itself.
Although the present invention has been described in detail with regard to the preferred embodiments and drawings thereof, it should be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various adaptations and modifications of the present invention may be accomplished without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the detailed description and the accompanying drawings as set forth hereinabove are not intended to limit the breadth of the present invention.
