1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an infant incubator having two functions, both of an enclosed incubator in which an infant chamber is in a closed state and an open incubator in which an infant chamber is in an open state.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-90486, filed Apr. 11, 2012, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2010-99243 suggests a switchable infant incubator which can be switched as needed between states of an enclosed infant incubator and a closed infant incubator by moving up and down a canopy of a hood forming an infant chamber, in which the canopy is separated from a side wall of the hood.
In such a switchable infant incubator, the side wall of the hood is formed by four walls of left and right-side treatment doors which are disposed at the left-side and the right-side and end-side treatment doors which are disposed at the head side and the foot side. The side walls of the hood formed from those treatment doors of the four walls are fitted with the canopy, so that the enclosed infant incubator is formed. The left and right-side treatment doors and the foot-side treatment door can be open individually by turning down. Medical advices, treatments and the like for an infant can be operated from any sides by opening one or more treatment doors lateral of the infant chamber.
In open state of the infant incubator, the left and right-side treatment doors and the foot-side treatment door are open and closed when treating the infant. On the other hand, in closed state of the infant incubator, the left and right-side treatment doors are open and closed when treating the infant. Therefore, in the closed state, it is unnecessary to open and close the foot-side treatment door (i.e., the end-side treatment door); and further it is necessary not to enable the foot-side treatment door to carelessly be open and closed for maintaining environment in the infant chamber.
The present invention is achieved in consideration of the above circumstances, and has an object to provide an infant incubator in which an end-side treatment door of a hood can be surely locked when left and right-side treatment doors of the hood are locked in closed state; and the left and right-side treatment doors and the end-side treatment door of the hood can be easily open in open state.
The present invention is an infant incubator having an infant chamber which can switch states between a closed state and an open state by opening and closing a hood, wherein: the hood includes a side wall part and a canopy which is separated from the side wall part and can be moved up and down, the side wall part includes: a left-side treatment door disposed at a left-side of an infant and a right-side treatment door disposed at a right-side of the infant, which are rotatably held between an erection state and open state; an end-side treatment door disposed at at least one of a head side or a foot side of the infant, which is rotatably held between the erection state and open state; and door-locking devices which lock the left-side treatment door and the right-side treatment door with the end-side treatment door with each other, each of the door-locking devices includes: an open-close knob which is attached to the left-side treatment door or the right-side treatment door and has a hook end; and a knob bracket which is attached to a side of the end-side treatment door and has a hollow portion to which the hook end is engaged, and the left-side treatment door and the right-side treatment door are fixed with the end-side treatment door in the erection state by engaging the hook end of the open-close knob and the hollow portion of the knob bracket.
Since the open-close knob has the hook end, the end-side treatment door can be locked using the door-locking devices of the left and right-side treatment doors although it is a simple mechanism, so that the end-side treatment door can be prevented from opening carelessly. Moreover, when the treatment doors are open, the left and right-side treatment doors and the end-side treatment door can be easily open by releasing the engagement of the open-close knob and the knob bracket.
Regarding the end-side treatment door, the head side and the foot side is set in accordance with a posture of the infant.
In the infant incubator according to the present invention, the canopy has a canopy gasket which is in contact with an top end portion of the end-side treatment door and maintains the canopy to close to the end-side treatment door in the closed state, the canopy gasket is provided with a vertical-wall portion having a sealing portion which is in contact with an inner surface of the end-side treatment door and a protruded ridge which is provided along an outer surface of the end-side treatment door, and the top end portion of the end-side treatment door is fitted between the vertical-wall portion and the protruded ridge in the closed state.
When the canopy and the treatment doors are closed, it is necessary to adjust positions of the canopy and the treatment doors accurately in order to maintain a sealing property of the infant chamber. Therefore, the canopy gasket which maintains the canopy to close to the end-side treatment door has the abovementioned vertical-wall portion and the protruded ridge so that the position of the canopy and the end-side treatment door can be adjusted. As a result, the positions of the canopy and the end-side treatment door can be adjusted, so that the gap between the canopy and the end-side treatment door can be surely sealed and maintained to be closed.
Furthermore, the end-side treatment door can be maintained in the erection state by the canopy gasket, so that the end-side treatment door is restricted to move to the open state, and it can be prevented to be open or closed improperly.
In the infant incubator according to the present invention, it is preferable that the canopy gasket be provided so that a part of the protruded ridge reaches to an outer periphery of an top end surface of the end-side treatment door.
In this case, the end-side treatment door is pressed toward inside an infant treatment room by the protruded ridge in the closed state, so that a sealing performance between the canopy and the end-side treatment door can be improved, and the end-side treatment door can be prevented from being open or closed improperly.
In the infant incubator according to the present invention, it is preferable that the canopy gasket be provided with a protruded portion at an outside of the protruded ridge so as to protrude higher than the protruded ridge.
By providing the protruded portion which is formed higher than the protruded ridge, a double wall is set with respect to the end-side treatment door. As a result, the end-side treatment door can be reliably prevented from being open or closed improperly.
According to the infant incubator of the present invention, since the left-side and right-side treatment doors and the end-side treatment door share the door-locking device, the end-side treatment door can also be reliably locked when the left-side and the right-side treatment doors of the hood are locked in the closed state; and further, the left-side and the right-side treatment doors and the end-side treatment door of hood can be easily open in the open state, so that the operability can be improved. Also, in the closed state, the end-side treatment door is restricted to move to the open state, so that the end-side treatment door can be prevented from being open or closed improperly.
Below, an embodiment of an infant incubator according to the present invention will be described.
[Total Construction of an Infant Incubator]
As totally shown in
The supporting post 4 internally has a lift which moves the frame 5 up and down. A pedal 13 is provided at a side of the pedestal 3 for operating the lift.
The hood 8 is constructed substantially rectangular of: a floor plate 16 in which a bed 15 for laying an infant down is mounted; a left-side treatment door 17 and a right-side treatment door 18 which are disposed each at a left side and a right side of the infant; a foot-side treatment door 19 which is disposed at a foot side of the infant; a head-side treatment door 20 which is disposed at a head side of the infant; and the canopy 12 which closes a top of the infant chamber 7 which is surrounded by the left-side and right-side treatment doors 17 and 18, the foot-side treatment door 19 and the head-side treatment door 20. The left-side treatment door 17, the right-side treatment door 18, the foot-side treatment door 19, the head-side treatment door 20 and the canopy 12 are substantially entirely formed from transparent resin, so that the infant in the infant chamber 7 can be checked with eyes from the outside.
As described above, the infant incubator 1 has both the functions of forms of an enclosed incubator shown in
Among the treatment doors 17 to 20, the head-side treatment door 20 is maintained in a vertical posture erecting at the head side of the infant chamber 7. On the other hand, lower ends of the left-side and right-side treatment doors 17 and 18 and the foot-side treatment door 19 are installed swingably around a horizontal shaft (not shown) with respect to the base table 6. In a case in which the infant incubator 1 is used as the enclosed incubator, the treatment doors 17 to 19 are closed, and the left-side and right-side treatment doors 17 and 18 can be open and closed for taking care of the infant. In
The left-side treatment door 17 and the right-side treatment door 18 have access-port units 25; and the foot-side treatment door 19 has an access-port unit 26. When the infant incubator 1 is used as the enclosed incubator, access ports 27 of the access-port units 25 and 26 can be open and closed by access flappers 28 of the access-port units 25 and an access flapper 29 of the access-port unit 26 while the treatment doors 17 to 19 remain standing. The head-side treatment door 20 is provided with grommet members 30 having slits through which cables or tubes are inserted.
On the floor plate 16 in the infant chamber 7, the bed 15 on which the infant is laid is provided. The bed 15 is swingably held at a center of a longitudinal direction by a horizontal shaft (not illustrated) and an end portion of the head side is held by a lift 31. By elevating the end portion which is held by the lift 31, the bed 15 can be held a position which is inclined to the horizontal direction. The lift 31 is provided at an outside of the hood 8.
The guide posts 9 and 10 each have a coaxial rod 32 and a lift which moves up and down the rod 32 therein. The canopy 12 is attached to an upper end of the rod 32, can close the infant chamber 7 at a down position thereof by being in contact with upper ends of the treatment doors 17 to 20, and can retract from the treatment doors 17 to 20 at an upper position thereof at an enough distance for treatments for the infant. The heater 11 is attached to an upper end of a rod (not illustrated, but provided as the guide post 9 shown in
[Construction of Door-Locking Device]
Door-locking devices 40 each are provided at the left-side treatment door 17, the right-side treatment door 18, the foot-side treatment door 19 so as to fix the foot-side treatment door 19 with the left-side treatment door 17 and the right-side treatment door 18 in a state in which the treatment doors 17 to 19 are erected.
As shown in
The open-close knob 41 is, as shown in
[Configuration of Treatment-Door Gasket and Canopy Gasket]
A treatment-door gasket 51 and a canopy gasket 61 are provided between the treatment doors 17 to 20 and the canopy 12 of the hood 8 so as to hold the treatment doors 17 to 20 and the canopy 12 in a closed state when the canopy 12 is moved down so as to be set to the closed state. The treatment-door gasket 51 is, as shown in
The treatment-door gasket 51 is, shown as
The same canopy gaskets 61 are mounted on the foot-side treatment door 19 and the head-side treatment door 20. As described above, the head-side treatment door 20 is constructed to stand so as not to move. Below, the foot-side treatment door 19 will be described.
The canopy frame 71 is formed to have a bar-shape along a lower end portion of the canopy 12, mounted to the lower end portion by screws or the like, and has an arc-shape in section. Protruded ridges 72 and 73 are each formed at both sides of the canopy frame 71 so as to be inserted into the canopy gasket 61.
As shown in
A hollow groove 68 in which the protruded ridge 72 of the canopy frame 71 is inserted is formed at an upper end portion of an arc-shaped inner peripheral portion of the fixing portion 62 so that the fixing portion 62 covers the canopy frame 71. Also, hollow groove 69 in which the protruded ridge 73 of the canopy frame 71 is inserted is formed at a lower end portion of the arc-shaped inner peripheral portion of the fixing portion 62 so that the fixing portion 62 covers the canopy frame 71. The sealing portion 63 having upper and lower two-tiered shape is formed integrally to the vertical-wall portion 64 so as to extend obliquely upward. The sealing portions 63 are in contact with the inner surface of the foot-side treatment door 19 in the closed state so as to seal between the foot-side treatment door 19 and the canopy 12. In the protrude-ridge portion 66, a distance to the vertical-wall portion 64 is smaller than a thickness of a wall of the foot-side treatment door 19; and a part of the protruded-ridge portion 66 covers the outer peripheral edge of the top end surface of the foot-side treatment door 19. As shown in
The canopy gasket 61 is formed so that the upper end portion of the foot-side treatment door 19 is fitted between the vertical-wall portion 64 and the protruded-ridge portion 66, when the canopy 12 is moved down so that the hood 8 is closed (i.e., the closed state). As a result, the canopy gasket 61 aligns the canopy 12 and the foot-side treatment door 19 and seals between the canopy 12 and the foot-side treatment door 19. In this case, the foot-side treatment door 19 is kept standing by the canopy gasket 61. Moreover, when the fixations by the door-locking devices 40 are cancelled so that the left-side and right-side treatment doors 17 and 18 are in the open state, the foot-side treatment door 19 is restricted not to move to the opening direction. Furthermore, since the part of the protruded-ridge portion 66 covers the outer peripheral edge of the top end surface of the foot-side treatment door 19, the foot-side treatment door 19 is pressed toward the inside of the infant chamber 7, so that the sealing property between the vertical-wall portion 64 of the canopy gasket 61 and the foot-side treatment door 19 can be improved.
[Open-and-Close Operation of the Treatment Door]
As shown in
When the left-side treatment door 17, the right-side treatment door 18, and the foot-side treatment door 19 are open from the state in which the treatment doors 17 to 20 are closed by the door-locking devices 40, as shown by an outlined allow in
In order to recover the treatment doors 17 to 19 to the stand state, by inverse operation to the abovementioned operation, the treatment doors 17 to 19 are stood; the lever portion 42 of the open-close knob 41 is inserted into the hollow portion 47 of the knob bracket 46; and the hook portion 43 is protruded from the knob bracket 46 so as to be held by hooking a side surface of the knob bracket 46. As a result, the left-side treatment door 17 and the right-side treatment door 18 are prevented from rotating, and also the foot-side treatment door 19 is prevented from rotating, so that the treatment doors 17 to 19 are fixed in the stand state with each other. Therefore, the foot-side treatment door 19 can be reliably locked when the left-side and right-side treatment doors 17 and 18 are locked.
As described above, by forming the top end of the open-close knob 41 as a hook-shape, the foot-side treatment door 19 can be locked and is prevented from being open improperly by utilizing the door-locking devices 40 of the left-side and right-side treatment door 17 and 18 even though it is a simple mechanism. Moreover, the left-side and right-side treatment door 17 and 18 and the foot-side treatment door 19 can be easily open by canceling the fitting of the open-close knob 41 and the knob bracket 46 when the treatment door 17 to 19 are open.
[Open-and-Close Operation of Canopy]
It will be described that the infant camber 7 is switched to closed state by moving down the canopy 12 as shown in
In the state in which the treatment doors 17 to 20 are closed by the door-locking devices 40, if the canopy 12 is moved down, the canopy gaskets 61 which are attached to the canopy 12 are moved along with the canopy 12, so that the canopy gaskets 61 are each disposed between the foot-side treatment door 19 and the canopy 12 and the head-side treatment door 20 and the canopy 12. In this case, the upper end portion of the foot-side treatment door 19 is fit inserted between the vertical-wall portion 64 and the protruded-ridge portion 66 both are provided at the canopy gasket 61, so that the canopy 12 and the foot-side treatment door 19 are aligned and a gap between the canopy 12 and the foot-side treatment door 19 is sealed.
The gap between the canopy 12 and the left-side treatment door 17 is sealed by the treatment-door gasket 51 which is mounted on the left-side treatment door 17. Also, the gap between the canopy 12 and the right-side treatment door 18 is sealed by the treatment-door gasket 51 which is mounted on the right-side treatment door 18. The sealing portion 53 of the treatment-door gasket 51 is formed so as to protrude upward at the bulge portion 56. The distal-end portion 55 is pressed outward along with moving down of the canopy 12 and kept being in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the canopy 12, so that the gap between the left-side treatment door 17 and the canopy 12 and the gap between the right-side treatment door 18 and the canopy 12 are sealed.
Next, the open-close operation of the left-side treatment door 17 and the right-side treatment door 18 in the closed state of the infant chamber 7 will be described.
As shown by the outlined allow in
Then, in order to recover the left-side treatment door 17 and the right-side treatment door 18 to the stand state, by inverse operation to the abovementioned operation, the treatment doors 17 and 18 are stood; the lever portion 42 of the open-close knob 41 is inserted into the hollow portion 47 of the knob bracket 46; and the hook portion 43 is protruded from the knob bracket 46 so as to be held by hooking a side surface of the knob bracket 46. In the closed state of the left-side treatment door 17 and the right-side treatment door 18, the inner peripheral surface of the distal-end portion 55 of the treatment-door gasket 51 is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the canopy 12, so that the gap between the left-side treatment door 17 and the canopy 12 and the gap between the right-side treatment door 18 and the canopy 12 are sealed.
As described above, the foot-side treatment door 19 can be held to stand when the fixation of the left-side treatment door 17 to the foot-side treatment door 19 and the fixations of the right-side treatment door 18 to the foot-side treatment door 19 by the door-locking devices 40 are cancelled. Therefore, the foot-side treatment door 19 is restricted not to move to the opening direction in the closed state of the canopy 12, so that the foot-side treatment door 19 can be prevented from being open improperly. Moreover, since the protruded portions 67 which protrude higher than the protruded-ridge portion 66 at the outside of the protruded-ridge portion 66 of the canopy gasket 61, the foot-side treatment door 19 can be reliably prevented from being open improperly in the closed state.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
In the above embodiment, the foot-side treatment door 19 and the head-side treatment door 20 are disposed with respect to the left-side and right-side treatment doors 17 and 18 as shown in
In the above embodiment, the reference symbol 19 represents the foot-side treatment door, and the reference symbol 20 represents the head-side treatment door. However, since a case in which the reference symbol 20 represents the foot-side treatment door can be supposed, the foot-side treatment door and the head-side treatment door are designated as the end-side treatment doors.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012-90486 | Apr 2012 | JP | national |
Number | Date | Country |
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2010-99243 | May 2010 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20130274543 A1 | Oct 2013 | US |