Patent Application
20060162068
The present disclosure relates to systems which assist with the movement of patients who are partially or completely incapacitated. More specifically, the disclosure is related to a system coupled to a patient support apparatus and configured to reposition a patient relative to the longitudinal length of the patient support apparatus.
From time to time, patients on a patient support apparatus such as a hospital bed who are partially or completely incapacitated need to be moved or repositioned. For example, in some cases, a patient may have slid down, slumped, or otherwise moved toward a foot end of the patient support apparatus, for example. This may result from inclination of a head section of the patient support apparatus and the patient may need to be repositioned toward the head end of the patient support apparatus when the head section is lowered back down. In other cases, a patient may need to be moved to a different bed.
In repositioning or moving a patient, a caregiver such as a nurse, for example, will grip the patient and pull, slide, or roll the patient to the new position. For larger patients, the caregiver may summon assistance from other nurses, assistants, orderlies, or the like. In some cases, a piece of fabric referred to as a draw-sheet may be positioned under the patient and used by the caregivers as an aid to repositioning the patient. The draw-sheet may be gripped by the caregiver(s) and used to lift and reposition the patient or the sheet may be pulled over the surface of the patient support apparatus to reposition the patient.
The present invention comprises one or more of the features recited in the appended claims or the following features or combinations thereof.
An end panel such as a headboard, for example, for use on a patient support apparatus having a pull-up-in-bed system is provided. The pull-up-in-bed system may comprise a retractor, a tether coupled to the retractor at a first end of the tether. The pull-up-in-bed system may further comprise a sheet attachment device coupled to a second end of the tether. The sheet attachment device may be configure to engage a sheet under a patient being repositioned. In use, the retractor may retract the tether which repositions the patient on the patient support apparatus. In some embodiments, the pull-up-in-bed system may be mounted to the frame of a hospital bed. In other embodiments, the pull-up-in-bed system may be mounted to a structure in a patient room such as a wall, an architectural headwall unit, or an equipment column, for example.
The end panel may comprise a frame, a bracket coupled to the frame, a roller supported for rotation by the bracket, and a housing encasing the frame and bracket. The housing may have an interior region. The end panel may further comprise structural foam at least partially filling the interior region of the housing. The end panel may have integrated depressions in the surface of the housing to provide additional stiffening of the end panel.
The end panel may further comprise a cavity for receiving and stowing a sheet attachment device of the pull-up-in-bed system. The cavity may be provided along the upper edge of the end panel. The housing may have two lugs on opposing sides of the cavity. The lugs may be received in two cavities or pockets provided in the sheet attachment device. The sheet attachment device may have at least one retaining pin which extends from the sheet attachment device beneath a lower edge of an associated one of the lugs so as to provide retention of the sheet attachment device on the end panel. The at least one retaining pin may be retracted by a user by activating a retraction mechanism which thereby withdraws the at least one retaining pin from beneath the lower edge of the associated lug, thereby permitting the sheet attachment device to be lifted upwardly and removed from the end panel. The end panel may have two retracting pins.
The frame of the end panel may comprise a U-shaped tubular member with legs of the U-shaped member extending downwardly. The tubular member may be a metal tube such as steel or aluminum. The tubular member may have a circular cross-section. The ends of the tubes may have apertures which are exposed at the bottom of the end panel. The bracket may be coupled to the frame at the upper portion. The bracket may have two leg portions which extend perpendicular to a main portion, with the main portion being coupled to the frame. In some embodiments, the bracket may comprise a sheet member. In some embodiments, the bracket may be made from metal such as steel or aluminum. In some embodiments, the leg portions may be secured to the main portion by welding or some other fastening process. The two leg portions may be parallel and each leg portion may have an aperture therethrough, the apertures being aligned to receive portions of one or more pins to support the roller. The shape of the apertures may be non-circular. The shape of the portions of the pins received by the apertures may also be non-circular. In some embodiments, engagement of the pins and apertures may resist rotation of the pins relative to the bracket.
The roller may be coupled to the bracket through two pins which extend from opposite ends of the roller and engage the non-circular apertures in the bracket. The roller may have a bore along the longitudinal axis of the roller. Two bushings may be located in the bore of the roller. The bushings may have an outer diameter sized to provide an interference fit with the bore of the roller. The inner diameter of the bushings may be sized to receive the two pins. The portions of the pins received by the bushings may be circular in cross section. The inner surface of the bushings may be configured to provide a bearing surface for the pins to facilitate rotation of the roller relative the pins. The portion of the pins extending from the bushings and engaging the non-circular apertures may have a complementary non-circular cross section received in the apertures, thereby preventing rotation of the pins within the apertures. A spring may be included within the bore of the roller, the spring retained between the pins within the bore. The spring may be an extension spring maintained in a state of compression between the pins to bias the pins to extend from the bore and engage the non-circular apertures in the bracket. In some embodiments, the bushings and spring may be omitted and the pins may be replaced by a single pin which extends through the roller with a non-circular cross-section on opposite ends to engage the non-circular apertures. Once assembled, the roller may be configured to rotate about it's longitudinal axis relative to the pin(s) which are held fixed by the bracket.
The roller may have an annular outer shape which includes annular flanges at opposite ends of the longitudinal length of the roller and a convex annular surface between the flanges. The convex annular surface may be a convex parabolic surface. The roller may be constructed of a plastic material such as Celcon® M-90 from General Electric or other similar material which has sufficient durability to withstand the loads transmitted thereto by a tether of a pull-up-in-bed system. In some embodiments, the roller may comprise two pieces coupled together over a single pin which extends through the bore along the longitudinal length of the roller. The roller may be situated in a notch formed in the housing beneath the cavity that receives the sheet attachment device of the pull-up-in-bed system.
The housing of the end panel may be a unitary piece of polypropylene or other similar material having sufficient strength and formability to form the housing. In some embodiments, the housing may be constructed of multiple pieces secured together through an adhesive or fastener. The tubular frame and metal bracket may be contained within the housing. Additional voids within the housing may be occupied by a structural foam. In some embodiments, the structural foam may be a polyurethane foam. It should be understood that any of a number of foam materials may be used to increase the load-bearing properties of the end panel.
The end panel may be mounted on a frame of the patient support apparatus. A mounting bracket may be used as an interface between the end panel and the frame. The mounting bracket may include mounting posts which extend from the frame and which are received in the apertures at the ends of the tube of the frame of the end panel. The frame of the patient support apparatus may have apertures sized to receive mounting posts located on the mounting bracket on the side of the mounting bracket opposite the mounting posts which engage the end panel. In use, the mounting bracket may be located on the frame of the patient support apparatus with mounting posts received in the apertures of the frame of the patient support apparatus and with the end panel mounted on the mounting bracket with the apertures of the end panel frame tube receiving additional mounting posts on the mounting bracket. Thus, lower portions of the frame of the end panel serve as sockets to receive posts of the mounting bracket.
Additional features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the disclosure as presently perceived.
The detailed description particularly refers to the following figures in which:
A patient support apparatus 10 including a pull-up-in-bed system 28 is shown in
Additional details of a pull-up-in-bed system that may be used with this headboard are provided in a related U.S. patent application titled “WIRELESS CONTROL SYSTEM FOR A PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS,” with a Ser. No. ______ (attorney docket number 7175-79049), filed concurrently herewith on Dec. 21, 2005, and hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The combination of the headboard 22 and the headboard mounting frame 32 support loads exerted by the pull-up-in-bed system 28 during the repositioning of a patient on the patient support apparatus 10. The headboard 22 comprises an outer housing 64, a tubular frame 52 coupled to and contained within the housing 64, a bracket 82 coupled to the tubular frame 52, and a roller 40 supported by the bracket 82 and rotatable relative to the headboard 22.
In some embodiments, the housing 64 is injection molded polypropylene. The housing 64 includes a large cavity 42 along the top configured to receive the sheet attachment device 24 in a stowed position as shown in
The sloping surface 130 has an elongated protrusion or lug 44 which extends outwardly from sloping surface 130. In a similar manner, the sloping surface 128 has an elongated protrusion or lug 46 which extends outwardly from the sloping surface 128. Protrusion 44 has a lower edge 48 which engages a retaining pin (not shown) of the sheet attachment device 24, the retaining pins being biased to extend and contact the lower edge 48 of protrusion 44 until the retaining pin is retracted by a user activating a retraction mechanism. Similarly, protrusion 46 has a lower edge 49 which is engaged by a retaining pin in a cavity on the opposite side of the sheet attachment device 24. Thus, retaining pins of the sheet attachment device 24 extend beneath lugs 44, 46 to prevent the sheet attachment device 24 from being lifted upwardly out of cavity 42. In some embodiments, the retracting pins may not engage the lower edges 48, 49 of lugs 44, 46 but may be spaced therefrom by a slight amount. Of course, after the retracting pins of the sheet attachment device are retracted by a user, the user may lift the sheet attachment device upwardly from cavity 42. The sheet attachment device 24 has pockets (not shown) that receive lugs 44, 46 to further retain the sheet attachment device 24 in place relative to headboard 22.
The housing 64 further includes two hand holes 54 and 56 which provide relief for the hand of a caregiver such as a nurse, for example, to grip the headboard 22 when the headboard 22 is used as a handle to move the patient support apparatus 10. Additionally, the housing 64 includes depressions 62 in the main surface of the housing 64, the depressions 62 are configured and located so as to provide stiffening of the headboard 22 to minimize deflection of the headboard 22. The headboard 22 supports forces exerted by the pull-up-in-bed system 28 during the operation of the pull-up-in-bed system 28 or the forces exerted on the headboard 22 while a caregiver utilizes the hand holes 54 and 56.
The tubular frame 52, shown in phantom in
Referring now to
The apertures 96, 98 receive and support the pins 78. In the illustrative example, respective flat surfaces 80 at the ends of the pins 78 extending through each leg portion 90, 92 such that pins 78 are supported by the leg portions 90, 92 in a cantilevered manner. The pins 78, in turn, support the roller 40. Referring now to
The cylindrical bore 86 of the roller 40 is sized to receive the outer diameter of two bushings 76 with an interference fit. The bushings 76 are inserted into the bore 86 such that the bushings 86 are flush with the outer end surfaces of the roller 40. The inner diameter of the bushings 76 are sized to receive a respective end of an extension spring 74. The inner diameter of the bushings 76 are also sized to receive the outer diameter of the pins 78. Each pin 78 is inserted into the associated bushing 76 from an outer end thereof with the end of each pin 78 having the flat surface 80 extending away from the roller 40. The pins 78 each engage the spring 74 so that the spring 74 is maintained in a state of compression to bias the pins 78 apart.
The entire assembly of roller 40, spring 74, bushings 76, and pins 78 are situated in the cavity or notch 50 with the pins 78 extending through two apertures 114 and 116 provided in housing 64 on either side of cavity 50 and into the apertures 96, 98 provided in the leg portions 90, 92, respectively. The bias of the spring 74 urges pins 78 into the apertures 96, 98. Insertion of the assembly is accomplished by comprising spring 74 sufficiently to allow the pins 78 to pass between leg portions 90, 92 until the pins 78 engage apertures 96, 98.
In another embodiment, shown in
Referring again to
The forces experienced by roller 40 are transmitted through the pins 78 to the bracket 82 which, in turn, transfers the forces to the tubular frame 52. Referring again now to
Although certain illustrative embodiments have been described in detail above, variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of this disclosure as described and as defined in the following claims.
This application claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/639,016 filed Dec. 23, 2004 which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60639016 | Dec 2004 | US |
