The present application claims priority, under 35 U.S.C. ยง119(a), of European Application No. 13193375.6 which was filed Nov. 18, 2013 and which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The present disclosure relates to a person support apparatus, such as a bed and with a mechanism suitable for adjusting the height and orientation of a patient support frame forming part of that bed. It is more particularly suitable for a hospital or long-term care (LTC) bed.
Person support apparatus, such as hospital and long-term care beds, typically include a patient support deck and a support surface, such as a mattress, supported by the deck. The patient support deck may be controllably articulated so as to take up different support configurations.
The patient support deck is supported on a deck support or intermediate frame and the deck support frame is provided with a mechanism for adjusting the height of the deck and hence the height of the support surface above the floor on which the apparatus is located, and to control the orientation or inclination of the deck and hence the patient support surface relative to the floor. Adjustment of the height is helpful to allow care givers to access the patient, and to facilitate patient movement into and out of the bed. The inclination of the patient support surface is also desirable so as to make the patient more comfortable, or to, for example, take up the Trendelenburg position in which the body is laid flat on the back (supine position) with the feet higher than the head by 12-30 degrees, or the reverse Trendelenburg position, where the body is tilted in the opposite direction.
The deck support frame is supported on leg assemblies which are pivotally connected at their upper end to the deck support frame and which have linear actuators for pivoting the leg assemblies relative to the deck support frame and hence adjusting the height of the deck support frame. Separate and separately controllable head end and foot end leg assemblies are provided so that the height of the foot and head ends may be separately adjusted. The leg assemblies can be pivoted together by their respective actuators and thereby raise or lower the deck support frame whilst keeping it substantially parallel to the floor. Alternatively, one of the foot or head end assemblies can be pivoted to lower just one of the foot or head ends and thereby move the deck support frame into the Trendelenburg or reverse Trendelenburg positions.
Known arrangements for pivoting leg assemblies relative to a deck support frame to allow the raising and lowering of the deck support frame include a leg element pivotally connected at its upper end to a guide element which is coupled to and can slide along the outside of longitudinal elements arranged parallel to, or forming, the sides of the deck support frame. Those known arrangements comprise a U-shaped guide element arranged on its side (i.e. with its open side extending in a vertical direction) and arranged around the outside of longitudinal elements having a rectangular cross-section. Such arrangements suffer from a number of problems. These include: i) a risk of trapping fingers in the guide element which moves along the outside of the longitudinal elements: (ii) a need to overcome the frictional forces between the inner surface of the slideable guide element and the outer surface of the longitudinal element when pivoting the leg assembly and thereby sliding; and (iii) a propensity for dust and dirt to collect on the surface of the longitudinal element and hence interfere with the sliding operation.
US 2009/0094747 and US 2010/0050343 disclose alternative arrangements in which channels which correspond to U-shapes on their sides (i.e. with an open vertical side) are arranged on the sides of the intermediate or deck support frame and have follower or guide elements extending into the interior of the channels through the vertical open side. The follower or guide elements engage and run along an interior surface of the respective channels.
US 2006/0021143 discloses a further alternative arrangement in which guide tracks or channels are defined by slots extending through the vertical sides of longitudinal bed frame elements, and the upper end of the respective leg assemblies are provided with followers extending sideways out from the upper end of the leg assemblies to extend through or into the slots. The followers run along the guide tracks defined by the slots through the vertical sides of the bed frame elements.
A need exists for further contributions in this area of technology.
An apparatus, system and/or method according to the present disclosure includes one or more of the features recited below or in the appended claims, and which alone, or in any combination, may define patentable subject matter:
The present disclosure, in a first aspect, provides a person support apparatus comprising: a person support frame for supporting a person support deck, the person support frame having two sides extending between a head end and a foot end; and a support assembly for supporting the person support frame and moving it relative to a floor surface, wherein the support assembly comprises at least one leg assembly pivotally coupled at a first upper end portion to the person support frame and coupled at its second lower end portion to floor engaging means, and an actuator element operable to move the leg assembly and thereby move the person support frame relative to the floor, wherein at least one of the sides of the person support frame comprises an inverted substantially U-shaped channel element having a substantially continuous upper surface, two substantially continuous side surfaces connected at their top edges to the upper surface, and a downward facing opening between the bottom edges of the two side surfaces, and the first upper end portion of the leg assembly includes a guide or follower element arranged to contact and run along an inner surface of the channel element.
This arrangement results in a deck support frame which is robust and stable and can accommodate the changes in geometry necessary for movement or adjustment between the horizontal, Trendelenburg and reverse Trendelenburg positions.
Some embodiments of the channel and roller mechanism change the height of a patient support deck by pivoting one or more leg assemblies relative to the under surface of the patient support frame.
Features of some illustrative embodiments include the following:
Some illustrative embodiments have a lower part count than known systems and are therefore likely to be both cheaper and more robust. More parts cost more to make and assemble and provide more elements capable of failure.
The opening of the channel carrying the guide elements or rollers faces the floor. This means that dirt is less likely to enter it and interfere with the mechanism. Furthermore, any dirt that enters will not be visible in normal use.
The leg assembly works vertically within the channel edges and a reduced force is therefore necessary to lift the patient support frame especially from the low position where the leg assemblies suspend a narrow angle relative to the underside of the patient support frame. The use of rollers in an optional embodiment rather than surfaces sliding relative to each other also reduces the frictional forces which must be overcome when moving the guide element. The use of a roller than a sliding element means that there is no need to overcome the friction between the sliding element and the frame element relative to which it slides thus reducing the force necessary to raise the deck support frame and makes the mechanism less likely to fail.
The use of a mechanism which includes a guide element inside a channel element means that the outside surface of the longitudinal channel element can be used as a fixing area for accessories or other elements.
Having the channel openly facing downwards and the guide element inside the channel make it harder for a patient or care-giver to trap their fingers or other body parts.
Features described in relation to one aspect and/or embodiment of the present disclosure may equally be applied to other embodiments and/or aspects of the present disclosure.
Additional features, which alone or in combination with any other feature(s), such as those listed above and/or those listed in the claims, may comprise patentable subject matter and will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of various embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the embodiments as presently perceived.
Illustrative embodiments will now be described in detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
a and 1b are isometric and perspective views from, respectively, the foot and head ends of a patient support apparatus including a deck support frame according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
a and 8b are diagrams setting out roller dimensions (in mm) for an embodiment according to the present disclosure;
Hospital beds typically include a deck supporting a mattress or other patient support element (not shown in the Figs.). The deck may be divided into articulated sections so as to create various seating and lying down configurations. Articulated beds with a controllable articulation system for the patient support surface are known and are not a novel and inventive part of embodiments of the subject disclosure so will not be described in detail. An example of such an articulated patient support surface is shown in EP 2 181 685 and WO 2004/021952 to which reference should now be made and whose contents are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Referring to
The lower portions of the legs 7 of each pair of legs are connected together by a lower bracing cross-element 10 at the bottom 12 of the legs. The lower cross-elements 10 are each in turn connected to a lower longitudinal or side element and able to rotate about their longitudinal axis. In the embodiment shown in
A pair of stabilizer elements 16 is connected to each pair of legs. A stabilizer element is connected to and links each leg to the underside of the deck support frame. The stabilizer elements 16, which are each coupled to a leg 7, are pivotally connected at their first upper ends 17 to the underside of the deck support frame 3. The upper ends 17 of each stabilizer are connected to a fixed upper pivot 18 displaced from the leg upper moveable pivot 8 of the respective leg, and are pivotally connected at their second lower ends 19 to the respective pair of legs at a pair of respective lower stabilizer pivots 20.
A stabilizer cross-element 37 is pivotally connected between the pair of stabilizers 16 for each leg assembly. The respective stabilizer cross-element is connected to each respective stabilizer at a point 36 between its upper 17 and lower 19 ends.
An actuator-stabilizer yoke 21 is connected to each stabilizer cross-element at a point substantially mid-way along the stabilizer cross-element so that it is in the middle of the bed. The actuator-stabilizer yoke 21 is pivotally coupled to an end of an actuator 22 (which may be a hydraulic actuator, or a linear actuator such as model No LA27 actuators supplied by Linak U.S. Inc. located at 2200 Stanley Gault Parkway, Louisville Ky. 40223) which controllably extends and retracts an actuator rod 23 connected to the actuator-stabilizer yoke 21. Extension and retraction of the actuator rod 23 causes the respective stabilizer cross-element 37 and hence the pair of stabilizers 16 connected to that stabilizer cross-element 37 to move and thence the pair of legs 7 connected to that stabilizer 16 to rotate relative to the deck support frame 3 and thence raises or lowers the deck support frame 3 and the patient support surface arranged on that deck support frame. The actuators 22 may be controlled by either the patient or a care-giver. Control mechanisms for such actuators are well known and may be either a foot operated pedal, control panel on the side of the bed, remote control or other control mechanism. Suitable actuators are well known and are therefore not described in detail in this application. They may be hydraulic, electric or pneumatic. An example of hydraulic actuators controlling the height of a deck is described in EP 2 181 685 and WO 2004/021952.
Referring to
As shown in, for example,
The upper end of each leg is connected to two rollers 29. The rollers 29 are supported on axles 30 running through the leg 7 and can rotate relative to the leg 7. The upper end 31 of each leg passes through the gap or space 32 in the bottom of the channel elements 24 defining the sides of the deck support frame. The rollers 29 each engage the inner surface of the channel element.
Referring to
When the actuators 22 retract their respective rods 23 together to move the deck support surface from a raised position (
Movement of the legs 7 and associated rollers 29 brought about by extension of the actuator rod to raise the deck support frame, pushes the rollers against the inner surface of the top of the respective channel element 24 so the roller rolls against that inner top surface of the channel. When the deck support frame is lowered by retraction of the actuator rod, the weight of the deck support frame and the patient support surface and patient supported thereon presses the inner top surface of the channel 24 against the respective rollers so that again the rollers roll along that top inner surface.
The channel 24 is provided along a substantial part of its length with a lip portion 28 welded or otherwise attached to each of the bottom edges of the two sides of the channel element. This helps hold the rollers in place and, if the patient support deck is lifted manually or otherwise than using the actuators, pushes up against the bottom of the rollers such that they roll against the lipped bottom edges 28.
Moving the deck support frame into the Trendelenburg position or reverse Trendelenburg position is not illustrated in the Figs. However, it is achieved by having one of the leg assemblies in the raised position and the other in the lowered position and is otherwise the same as for lowering or raising the whole height of a substantially horizontal deck support frame. For the Trendelenburg position the foot end is raised to be about 15-30 degrees above the head end, whereas in the reverse Trendelenburg the head end is raised to be above the foot end.
In a one embodiment of the patient support apparatus according to the present disclosure, at least one of the castors and/or castor devices at each of the foot and head ends of the apparatus are provided with a brake assembly with a brake lever as described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,703,157 and arranged to be contacted and pressed down by the lower surface of the channel element to lock or brake the respective caster or caster device when the respective portion of the deck support frame is lowered.
Each of the castors includes a braking mechanism.
The braking surface 40 at the foot ends of the bed is pushed downward by the action of a braking lever 41 which may be actuated by, for example, the foot of a care giver on, as is shown in
The brake surfaces (not shown) of the head end castors are connected to a respective foot end braking levers 41 by a rod element running inside each of the lower rail elements 35. Movement of the braking lever 41 causes the rod to rotate and hence push the braking surfaces associated with the head end castors to move and hence brake or release the head end castors.
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.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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13193375.6 | Nov 2013 | EP | regional |