This disclosure relates to an assist assembly for an occupant of a bed and more particularly to an assist assembly that facilitates caregiver access to the occupant from the head end of the bed and that provides a substantially unobstructed line of sight past the foot end of the bed for a person standing near the head end of the bed.
Occupants of a bed, particularly occupants of a hospital bed, may find it beneficial to use various types of assistance devices during activities such as ingress into the bed, egress out of the bed, and position adjustment within the confines of the bed. Such assistance devices are attached to a support structure. Conventional support structures are anchored to the base frame of the bed so that they are laterally aligned with the longitudinally extending bed centerline. A conventional support structure extends vertically from its anchorage and then footwardly at an elevation substantially higher than that of the bed occupant. The presence of the support structure impedes caregiver access to the headboard of the bed and to the occupant when the caregiver is positioned at the head end of the bed. In addition, the support structure blocks the line of sight past the foot end of the bed for a caregiver positioned at the head end of the bed. The obstructed line of sight makes it difficult for a caregiver positioned near the head end of the bed to maneuver the bed when moving it from place to place.
An occupant assist assembly for an occupant of a bed comprises a pair of substantially vertically extending stanchions laterally spaced apart by a prescribed clearance and in which a lower portion of the pair of stanchions is configured to be connected to a person-support apparatus. A longitudinally extending support arm is connected to an upper portion of the assist assembly.
Referring now to the illustrative examples in the drawings, wherein like numerals represent the same or similar elements throughout:
Referring to
The bed 10 also includes a deck (not visible) supported on the upper frame, a plurality of siderails (not shown) a headboard 34, a footboard (not shown) and a mattress 36.
The illustrations also show an occupant assist assembly 38. The occupant assist assembly 38 is designed to offer support to a person trying to enter or exit the bed and to adjust his or her position on the bed. An attachment in the form of a sturdy metal triangle 39, also referred to as a “trapeze”, can be attached to the assist assembly as shown. In practice the occupant grasps the base 41 of the triangle to assist with ingress, egress or repositioning.
The assist assembly 38 is a dual-stanchion arrangement The assist assembly includes an adaptor 40 comprising a pair of horizontal base rods 42, and a pair of substantially vertically extending stanchions 44 connected to the adaptor rods at respective lower elbows 46. The stanchions are laterally spaced from each other by a prescribed clearance C. Each stanchion has a lower portion 44A and an upper portion 44B connected to the lower portion by a connector 45. Connector 45 subtends an arc α of about 22 degrees relative to vertical so that upper portion 44B is oriented off-vertical by about 22 degrees. Oblique braces 50 are each connected to the stanchions at respective upper compound elbows 52. Gussets 54, seen best in
The connections at the elbows 46, 52, between the stiffening braces 58, 60 and the stanchions 44, between the support brace 62 and the upper stiffening brace 60, and at the vertex 64 are permanent (e.g. welded or brazed) or semipermanent (e.g. bolted) connections not intended to accommodate routine disassembly. At locations subject to lower stresses, a separable connection may be provided to facilitate disassembly thereby saving space when the assist assembly is stored and transported, and rendering it less awkward when separated from the bed. An example of such a connection is connection 70 in which a larger diameter hollow upper section of each stanchion receives a smaller diameter projection (not visible) extending vertically upwardly from a lower section of the stanchion. With such a connection, the upper and lower stanchion sections can be separated from or connected to each other without the use of tools or special techniques.
The assist assembly also includes a retractable and deployable support arm 72. The support brace 62 slidingly receives the support arm. A pin 74 (
Because the assist assembly includes a pair of laterally spaced apart stanchions rather than a single stanchion aligned with centerline 30, a caregiver standing at the head end of the bed has easy access to the bed occupant. In addition, the caregiver has an unobstructed line of sight past the foot end of the bed, which is helpful when the caregiver maneuvers the bed from place to place. Referring to
The prescribed shoulder clearance must be present across a range of heights sufficient to accommodate a range of caregivers, i.e. to allow those caregivers to reach through the clearance space C defined by the stanchions to attend to a bed occupant and to enjoy an unobstructed line of sight between the stanchions. Accordingly, the prescribed clearance is present in a vertical range extending from a vertical lower limit VL to a vertical upper limit VU (
When in use, receptacles 90 in the base frame of the bed receive adaptor rods 42. Typically the connection between the assist assembly adaptor rods and the base frame would be secured by a retainer such as a pin extending through registered openings in each receptacle and into corresponding openings in the associated adaptor rod.
The support arm 72 can also be used to suspend a hook 92 as seen in
In reading the claims it is intended that when words such as “a,” “an,” “at least one,” “at least a portion” are used there is no intention to limit the claim to only one item unless specifically stated to the contrary in the claim. When the language “at least a portion” and/or “a portion” is used the item can include a portion and/or the entire item unless specifically stated to the contrary.