Unitary pedal control for height of a patient support

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6230343
  • Patent Number
    6,230,343
  • Date Filed
    Friday, June 25, 1999
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 15, 2001
    23 years ago
Abstract
A wheeled carriage for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position includes a patient support having head and foot regions and a pair of lateral side regions and a wheeled base supported at least by three floor surface engaging and castered wheels. An auxilliary wheel and a support structure therefor suspendedly mount the auxilliary wheel to the wheeled base. A unitary pedal is provided for controlling first and second hydraulic jacks to adjust the height of the patient support.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




This invention relates to a wheeled carriage for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position, and, more particularly, to a wheeled carriage having a unitary pedal control of brakes and a fifth wheel that can be raised and lowered by activation of one of the several control elements oriented around the perimeter of the wheeled carriage and a unitary pedal control of the height of the patient support.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Wheeled carriages for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position are well-known in the art and a representative example of an early version of such a device is illustrated in Dr. Homer H. Stryker's U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,116, reference to which is incorporated herein. Dr. Stryker's innovative wheeled carriage included a fifth wheel which is raisable and lowerable by the attendant by directly manually manipulating the wheel support frame oriented beneath the patient supporting portion of the wheeled carriage. The orientation of the fifth wheel was sometimes awkward to reach and, therefore, made the operation of the raising and lowering feature of the fifth wheel difficult to attain.




Other structure was added to the wheeled carriage to facilitate an activation of the brakes for the wheels on the wheeled carriage from positions adjacent the head end and/or the foot end of the wheeled carriage. However, if the wheeled carriage were to be placed into a position where the head end and the foot end of the wheeled carriage were inaccessible to the attendant, operation of the brake became difficult without first moving the wheeled carriage to a position wherein at least one of the head and/or foot end of the wheeled carriage would be accessible for operation of the brake. If a fifth wheel is present and is deployed to its floor engaging position, situations where this might be considered a problem would be where an overbed table was to be placed in association with the wheeled carriage and the fifth wheel was blocking entry of the wheeled carriage of the overbed table beneath the wheeled carriage because of the presence of the lowered fifth wheel. Thus, it became a desire to provide an easily accessible fifth wheel and brake activation device oriented at least within the lateral side region of the wheeled carriage as well as within the head and foot regions of the wheeled carriage.




As wheeled carriages for supporting a patient further developed from Dr. Stryker's earlier patent, the mechanism for raising the patient support relative to the wheeled base generally included a pair of horizontally spaced hydraulic jacks which were simultaneously pumped with hydraulic fluid by operation of a single foot activated pedal. Once the hydraulic jacks had raised the patient support to the desired elevation, either the head end of the patient support, the foot end of the patient support or both ends of the patient support could be selectively lowered by activation of one or two foot activated pedals. For example, one foot activated pedal, when depressed, would activate a hydraulic fluid release valve for allowing hydraulic fluid to exit the hydraulic jack at one end of the bed so that that end of the bed would be lowered. The second foot pedal would accomplish the same task. When it was desired to lower both the head end and the foot end of the patient support at the same time, it was necessary for both foot pedals to be depressed at the same time. Attendants have found this difficult to achieve. Accordingly, it became a desire to provide for an easy to use mechanism for effecting the simultaneous lowering of the head end and foot end hydraulic jacks.




Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a wheeled carriage for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position having a wheel braking and unbraking mechanism and/or an auxiliary wheel and support structure therefor mounted on a wheeled base, one and/or the other being actuatable by a manually manipulatable control element at at least one of the pair of lateral side regions or at least one of the head or foot ends of the wheeled carriage so that an attendant can operate the manually manipulatable control element to effect a movement of the auxiliary wheel solely from the head or foot end and solely from within the lateral side region.




It is a further object of this invention to provide brakes for the wheels of the wheeled carriage and a control mechanism for activating the brakes while the auxiliary wheel is in a position spaced from the floor surface and deactivating the brakes while the auxiliary wheel is in a floor engaging position, all utilizing the aforesaid same control mechanism.




It is a further object of this invention to provide a wheeled carriage, as aforesaid, wherein plural control elements are provided around the perimeter of the wheeled carriage to facilitate an attendant operating a selected one of the manually manipulatable control elements to effect a movement of the auxiliary wheel from its raised or lowered position and/or activation of a brake mechanism for the wheeled carriage solely from within a selected one of the head, foot and two lateral side regions of the wheeled carriage.




It is a further object of the invention to provide a control mechanism for actuating the raising and lowering feature of the fifth wheel and/or activation of a brake mechanism for the wheeled carriage by utilizing a rotational movement of the activating devices to facilitate compact construction of a rotary transmission device to interconnect the multiple locations for activating the raising and lowering of the fifth wheel feature and/or activation of a brake mechanism for the wheeled carriage.




It is a further object of the invention to provide a wheeled carriage, as aforesaid, wherein the manually manipulatable control element at each of the multiple locations around the perimeter of the wheeled carriage are identical to one another thereby standardizing the appearance of the control element to the attendant thereby minimizing confusion as to which of the many manually manipulatable elements on a wheeled carriage for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position is to be activated.




It is a further object of the invention to provide a wheeled carriage, as aforesaid, wherein the fifth wheel activating structure is durable and requires little or no maintenance over the lifetime of the wheeled carriage.




It is a further object of the invention to provide a wheeled carriage, as aforesaid, wherein the control element for activating the brakes and/or the auxiliary fifth wheel is a unitary pedal construction.




It is a further object of the invention to provide a wheeled carriage, as aforesaid, wherein hydraulic jacks are utilized to raise and lower the patient support relative to the wheeled base and wherein a unitary pedal construction is utilized to effect an independent lowering of the head end and the foot end of the patient support as well as a simultaneous lowering of both the head end and the foot end of the patient support.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The objects and purposes of the invention are met by providing a wheeled carriage for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position, which wheeled carriage has thereon a patient support having head and foot regions and a pair of lateral side regions and a wheeled base supported at least by three floor surface engaging and castered wheels spaced from one another at locations defining corners of a theoretical polygon. An auxiliary wheel and a support structure therefor are suspendedly mounting the auxiliary wheel to the wheeled base. The auxiliary wheel is oriented inside a boundary of the theoretical polygon and includes an axle about which the wheel rotates. A control structure includes a first manually manipulatable member at at least one of the pair of lateral side regions and a second manually manipulatable member at at least one of the head end and the foot end so that an attendant can operate a selected one of the manually manipulatable members to effect a movement of the auxiliary wheel and the support structure therefor. In the alternative, the control structure can selectively activate the brakes for the wheeled carriage. A unitary pedal is provided for controlling the height of the patient support.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




Other objects and purposes of this invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with an apparatus of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings, in which:





FIG. 1

is a schematic side view of a wheeled carriage for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position and embodying the invention;





FIG. 2

is an enlarged isometric view of the wheeled base of the aforesaid wheeled carriage illustrated in

FIG. 1

with the patient support structure having been removed;





FIG. 3

is an isometric view of the underside of the wheeled base illustrated in

FIG. 2

with the fifth wheel mounted in the central region thereof;





FIG. 4

is an enlarged isometric view of a fragment of FIG.


2


.





FIG. 5

is an enlarged isometric view of the brake activation structure;





FIG. 6

is an isometric view of the wheeled base showing only the hydraulic jacks thereon and a unitary pedal construction for facilitating a control of the height of the patient support relative to the wheeled base;





FIG. 7

is a top view of a unitary pedal, minus the tread configuration, used for controlling the height of patient support relative to the wheeled base;





FIG. 8

is a sectional view taken along the line


8





8


of

FIG. 7

;





FIG. 9

is a sectional view taken along the line


8





8


of FIG.


7


and with side of the pedal being lowered;





FIG. 10

is a sectional view taken along the line


8





8


of FIG.


7


and with the pedal being depressed on a side opposite the position illustrated in

FIG. 9

; and





FIG. 11

is a bottom view of the unitary pedal.











DETAILED DISCUSSION




Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience in reference only and will not be limiting. The words “up”, “down”, “right” and “left” will designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “in” and “out” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the device and designated parts thereof. Such terminology will include derivatives and words of similar importance.





FIG. 1

is a schematic illustration of a wheeled carriage


10


for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position. A known wheeled carriage is disclosed in Dr. Homer H. Stryker's U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,116. The wheeled carriage


10


includes a wheeled base


11


, a patient support


12


and a pair of hydraulically operated jacks


13


and


14


interposed between the wheeled base


11


and the underside of the patient support


12


. The jacks


13


and


14


are mounted to the wheeled base


11


and are fixedly secured in place by brackets


16


and


17


, respectively. A plurality of castered wheels


18


are provided on the wheeled base at the four corners thereof defining a theoretical polygon P, in this case, a rectangle. The orientation of the wheels


18


is similar to that illustrated in Dr. Stryker's aforementioned patent. All of the aforesaid structure is generally conventional and form the environment for the invention which will be discussed in more detail below.




An auxiliary fifth wheel mechanism


20


is provided on the wheeled base


11


and, in this particular embodiment, is oriented so that its plane of rotation is fixed and parallel to a longitudinal axis A of the wheeled base


11


. The auxiliary fifth wheel mechanism


20


includes an auxiliary wheel


21


and a support structure


22


for interconnecting the auxiliary wheel


21


to the wheeled base


11


. The support structure


22


includes a bracket


23


which is secured to the underside of a pair of longitudinally extending frame members


24


and


26


of the wheeled base


11


. In this particular embodiment, the bracket


23


has a pair of downwardly extending flanges


27


and


28


through each of which is provided a hole


29


axially aligned with one another and adapted to relatively rotatably received therein a shaft


31


having a crank L-shaped crank arm


32


oriented at one end thereof. A cam follower


33


is rotatably mounted on the distal end of the L-shaped crank arm


32


as illustrated in FIG.


3


.




The support structure


22


also includes an auxiliary wheel supporting frame


34


having a pair of parallel legs


36


and


37


thereby defining a wheel yoke. The auxiliary wheel


21


is rotatably mounted between the legs


36


and


37


of the yoke or frame


34


. A pair of tubes


38


and


39


are preferably loose spacers but can be secured to the upper portion of the frame


34


and extend coaxially away from each other and sleevably receive therethrough the shaft


31


. As a result of this construction, the frame


34


can rotate about the axis of and relative to the shaft


31


. A torsion spring


41


interconnects the shaft


31


to the frame


34


so as to urge the frame


34


and the auxiliary wheel


21


mounted thereon toward the floor surface S (

FIG. 1

) inside the aforesaid theoretical polygon. A further torsion spring


42


is provided to interconnect the frame


34


to the bracket


23


and to continually urge the frame


34


and auxiliary wheel


21


toward a position out of engagement with the floor surface S, namely, and to the position illustrated in FIG.


3


. Thus, an external force applied to the cam follower


33


will operate the crank arm


32


so as to initiate a rotation of the shaft


31


about its axis to move the frame


34


and the auxiliary wheel


21


thereon from the broken line position illustrated in

FIG. 1

to the solid line position thereof and in engagement with the floor surface S against the force of the torsion spring


42


. The structure for applying the external force to the cam follower


33


is described below.




The control structure


50


for applying the external force to the cam follower


33


for effecting movement of the support structure


22


and the auxiliary wheel


21


rotatably mounted thereon about the axis of the axle


31


is best illustrated in

FIGS. 2-4

. More specifically, a plurality of brackets


51


are secured to the frame


26


of the wheeled base


11


and rotatably support an elongated shaft


52


which projects beyond the head and foot ends of the wheeled carriage and into the head and foot end regions external to the aforesaid theoretical polygon. Foot pedals


53


and


54


are fixedly secured via a conventional structure


56


to the respective ends of the shaft


52


. In this particular embodiment, each foot pedal includes a pair of separate foot pads


57


and


58


which, when depressed, effect a rotation of the shaft


52


in directions that are oppositely related to one another.




The control structure


50


additionally includes further brackets


59


and


61


for rotatably supporting a further elongated shaft


62


. Each bracket


59


and


61


has a hole therethrough and is adapted to rotatably receive therein the aforesaid shaft


62


. In this particular embodiment, the longitudinal axis of the shaft


52


and the longitudinal axis of the shaft


62


do not intersect. Instead, the axes of the respective shafts


52


and


62


lie in parallel horizontal planes while simultaneously the longitudinal axis of the shaft


62


lies in a plane that is orthogonally related to the plane in which lies the longitudinal axis of the shaft


52


. Foot pedals


63


and


64


are fixedly secured as by conventional structure


66


to respective ends of the shaft


62


. In this particular embodiment, the foot pedals


53


,


54


,


63


and


64


are identical and include respective foot pads


57


and


58


.





FIG. 4

is an enlargement of a fragment of FIG.


2


and best illustrates a transmission device


67


which rotationally interconnects the shafts


52


and


62


to one another. More specifically, a beveled gear


68


is fixedly secured to the shaft


52


and is rotatable therewith. A spur gear


69


is fixedly secured to the shaft


62


and is rotatable therewith. An idler gear


71


includes a spur gear section


72


and a beveled gear section


73


. The teeth of the spur gears


69


and


72


are intermeshed whereas the teeth of the beveled gear


68


and


73


are intermeshed. The idler gear


71


is rotatably mounted on a shaft


74


that is fixed to the frame members


24


and


26


of the wheeled base


11


. As the result of the aforedescribed transmission device


67


, rotation of the shaft


52


will effect a simultaneous rotation of the shaft


62


. This means that if the attendant uses his/her foot to depress the foot pedal


57


on one of the four foot pedals


53


,


54


,


63


and


64


, all of the foot pads


57


on all of the foot pedals will be simultaneously depressed.




The foot pedals


63


and


64


and the interconnecting shaft


62


and the support structure therefor have been purposefully omitted from

FIG. 3

in order to provide an unencumbered view of the support structure


22


and the auxiliary wheel


21


.




A contoured cam


76


(

FIG. 3

) having a contoured edge surface


77


is fixedly secured to the shaft


52


in a manner such that the contoured edge surface


77


engages the cam follower


33


. Counterclockwise rotation of the shaft


52


(

FIG. 3

) will cause the contoured cam


76


to move therewith and cause the contoured edge surface


77


to apply the aforesaid external force to the cam follower


33


to operate the crank arm


32


and effect a rotation of the shaft


31


to cause the support structure


22


to move the auxiliary wheel


21


into engagement with the floor surface S. Rotation of the shaft


52


in the opposite direction of rotation will move the contoured cam


76


therewith and the torsion spring


42


will cause the cam follower to remain in engagement with the contoured edge surface


77


as the contoured cam


76


is moved in the aforesaid opposite direction.




Each of the brackets


16


and


17


on the wheeled base


11


have thereon structure that defines a guideway


78


. Only one such guide way


78


is illustrated in the drawings and that illustration appears in

FIGS. 3 and 5

. The guideway


78


slidably supports a catch or slide mechanism


79


lengthwise of the guide way


78


, here in a direction that is lateral to the longitudinal axis A. A latch in the form of a roller


80


is rotatably supported on the lower end of a vertically reciprocal rod


88


and is adapted to roll along a lower edge of the catch mechanism


79


between respective recesses


81


,


82


and


83


in the aforesaid lower edge of the catch mechanism


79


. The latch or roller


80


is capable of vertical movement against the continual urging of a compression spring


84


, a lower end of which abuts the guideway


78


(FIG.


5


). An upper end of the rod


88


passes through a hole (not shown) in a brake bar


89


and has a collar


91


secured thereto on a side of the brake bar


89


remote from the spring


84


. A link


86


interconnects one end of the catch mechanism


79


to a lever arm


87


fixedly secured to the shaft


52


and is movable therewith. As a result, and referring to

FIGS. 3 and 5

, a clockwise rotation of the shaft


52


will not activate a deployment of the auxiliary wheel


21


but will, instead, cause the lever arm


87


to move therewith and apply a pulling force to the aforesaid one end of the catch mechanism


79


through the interconnecting link


86


to cause the roller


80


to roll on the edge of the catch mechanism


79


out of the central recess


82


and into the recess


81


while the compression spring


84


maintains the engagement of the contoured edge of the catch mechanism


79


with the roller


80


. The rod


88


and the brake bar


89


will be pulled downwardly against the urging of the spring


84


to lower the rings


92


on the opposite ends of the brake bar


89


into engagement with the wheels


18


in a known manner. Deactivation of the brakes can be accomplished by a reverse rotation of the pedals and upward movement of brake bar


89


will occur, while bumpers


93


dampen unwanted metal to metal contact noise. A counterclockwise rotation of the shaft


52


(

FIGS. 3 and 5

) will cause the link


86


to push the catch mechanism


79


to the left and cause the roller to enter the recess


83


. In this position, the auxiliary wheel


21


is deployed as described above. On the other hand, a movement of the roller


80


into the central recess


82


places the pedals


53


,


54


,


63


and


64


into a neutral position where neither the brakes nor the auxiliary wheel are deployed. The recesses


81


,


82


and


83


of the catch mechanism


79


effect a holding of the foot pedals


53


,


54


,


63


and


64


in respective positions thereby necessitating an attendant applying force to a foot pad


57


or


58


in order to effect a rotation of the shaft


52


thereby causing a simultaneous rotation of the shaft


62


and corresponding movements of the remaining foot pedals.




The four regions R


1


, R


2


, R


3


and R


4


in which attendants are to stand when operating a selected one of the foot pedals


53


,


54


,


63


or


64


are shown in FIG.


2


. The head and foot end regions R


1


and R


3


are most convenient for operation of the foot pedals


53


and


54


whereas the lateral side regions R


2


and R


4


are most convenient for operation of the foot pedals


63


and


64


. Since the foot pedals


63


and


64


can be oriented anywhere along the lateral sides between the points of engagement of the wheels


18


with the floor surface S, the regions R


2


and R


4


are shown to be elongated in the longitudinal direction of the patient support


10


while in actuality the actual regions R


2


A and R


4


A more closely represent the actual regions in front of the respective pedals


63


and


64


that will be used by the attendants.





FIG. 6

has been purposefully presented without the detail illustrated in

FIGS. 2 and 3

. The primary emphasis of

FIG. 6

is to reference a pair of unitary pedal members


101


and


102


. The pedal member


101


is also schematically illustrated in FIG.


1


. Heretofore, and even now, a single pedal


103


(

FIG. 1

) has been utilized to activate a pump


104


to simultaneously supply the hydraulic cylinders


13


and


14


with hydraulic fluid to effect a raising of the patient support


12


relative to the base


11


. Heretofore, separate foot pedals have been utilized to activate release valves


106


and


107


to effect a lowering of the hydraulic jacks


13


and


14


independently of one another. If both of the hydraulic jacks


13


and


14


were to be simultaneously lowered, the attendant was required to activate both foot pedals simultaneously to simultaneously activate the release valves


106


and


107


to cause a simultaneous lowering of the jacks


13


and


14


. This often proved difficult for attendants due to the necessity of careful placement of the foot onto both foot pedals at the same time. This problem has been overcome by the provision of the aforesaid unitary pedal members


101


and


102


. The pedal members are oriented on opposite lateral sides of the wheeled carriage


10


and are oriented outside the aforesaid theoretical polygon. A first rod


108


is rotatably secured to the frame members


24


and


26


. A second rod


109


is also rotatably secured to the frame members


24


and


26


and extends parallel to the rod


108


. Counterclockwise rotation of the rod


108


will effect a release of the release valve


107


to cause the hydraulic jack


13


at the foot end of the patient support to lower. Similarly, counterclockwise rotation of the rod


109


will activate the release valve


106


to cause a lowering of the hydraulic jack


14


at the head end of the patient support. Since the valving for such operation is known from Dr. Stryker's earlier mentioned patent, further discussion is deemed unnecessary.




Referring now to

FIGS. 7-11

wherein a unitary pedal construction is illustrated, the pedals


101


and


102


are identical to one another and, therefore, only one thereof will be described below. The pedals


101


,


102


are made of a thermoplastic material and include an upwardly facing plate-like section


111


with a tread-like surface thereon and having a downwardly extending skirt


112


around the perimeter thereof. The upwardly facing platelike surface


111


is divided into three sections, namely, a left flat plate-like section


113


, a central raised, somewhat dome-like section


114


and a right most flat plate-like section


115


. A pair of sockets


116


and


117


are provided on the under surface of the plate-like upper surface


111


. More specifically, the socket


116


is provided under the section


113


and receives therein the distal end of the rod


108


. A collar


118


and rivet


119


are both secured to the rod


108


and abut against an edge surface


122


of the socket


116


as illustrated in FIG.


11


. The width of the socket


116


corresponds to the diameter of the rod


108


. The socket


117


, on the other hand, is wider than is the socket


116


and receives therein the distal end of the rod


109


. A corresponding collar


118


and rivet


119


are secured to the rod


109


. The collar


118


secured to the rod


109


abuts against an edge


123


of the socket


117


as illustrated in FIG.


11


. The aforesaid structure also prevents removal of the pedals


101


and


102


from the respective ends of the rods


108


and


109


. If desired, ribbing


121


can be provided on the underside of each pedal in order to further rigidify the construction and as depicted only in FIG.


11


.




When it is desired to lower both hydraulic jacks


13


and


14


simultaneously, the attendant need only to place the foot on the central section


114


of each pedal of a pedal


101


or


102


and depress same. As a result, both rods


108


and


109


will be simultaneously rotated to cause a simultaneous activation of the release valves


106


and


107


. This function is depicted in

FIG. 8

with the arrow F representative of the attendant's foot being shown directly over the central section


114


. When it is desired to lower the head end of the patient support, namely, the hydraulic jack


14


, the attendant's foot is to be placed over the right section


115


illustrated by the arrow F in FIG.


9


. Similarly, when the foot end of the patient support, namely, the hydraulic jack


13


is to be lowered, the attendant's foot need only be placed on the left section


113


and depressed as depicted by the arrow F in FIG.


10


.




Although particular preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus, including the rearrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the present invention.



Claims
  • 1. A hospital bed for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position, comprising:a base; a patient support oriented above said base; at least first and second hydraulic jacks interconnecting said base and said patient support for raising and lowering said patient support relative to said base; a manually operable pump for pumping hydraulic fluid simultaneously to said first and second hydraulic jacks to effect a uniform raising of said patient support relative to said base, and means for effecting a manual operation of said pump; a first manually operable member for effecting, when operated, a removal of hydraulic fluid from said first hydraulic jack to cause a lowering thereof independent of said second hydraulic jack; a second manually operable member spaced and separate from said first manually operable member for effecting, when operated, a removal of hydraulic fluid from said second hydraulic jack to cause a lowering thereof independent of said first hydraulic jack; a unitary third manually operable pedal having three manually engageable positions thereon and means connecting said unitary third manually operable pedal to said first and second manually operable members, a first position of said three manually engageable positions including first means for facilitating an operation of said first manually operable member independent of said second manually operable member, a second position of said three manually engageable positions including second means for facilitating an operation of said second manually operable member independent of said first manually operable member, and a third position of said three manually engageable positions including third means for facilitating a simultaneous operation of said first and second manually operable members to cause a simultaneous lowering of said first and second jacks.
  • 2. The hospital bed according to claim 1, wherein said third position is oriented intermediate said first and second positions.
  • 3. The hospital bed according to claim 1, wherein said unitary third manually operable pedal is adapted to be engaged and operated by a foot of an attendant.
  • 4. The hospital bed according to claim 3, wherein said first means includes a guide for said first manually operable member accommodating a change in spacing between said first and second manually operable members when one of said first and second manually operable members is operated independent of the other.
  • 5. A hospital bed for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position, comprising:a base; a patient support oriented above said base; at least first and second hydraulic jacks interconnecting said base and said patient support for raising and lowering said patient support relative to said base; a pump for pumping hydraulic fluid to said first and second hydraulic jacks to raise said patient support relative to said base; a first manually operable member for effecting, when operated, a removal of hydraulic fluid from said first hydraulic jack to cause a lowering thereof independent of said second hydraulic jack; a second manually operable member spaced and separate from said first manually operable member for effecting, when operated, a removal of hydraulic fluid from said second hydraulic jack to cause a lowering thereof independent of said first hydraulic jack; and a unitary manually operable pedal connected to said first and second manually operable members and having three manually engageable positions thereon, said unitary third manually operable pedal having a first position operating said first manually operable member independent of said second manually operable member, a second position operating said second manually operable member independent of said first manually operable member, and a third position simultaneously operating said first and second manually operable members to lower said first and second jacks.
  • 6. The hospital bed according to claim 5, wherein said third position is oriented intermediate said first and second positions.
  • 7. The hospital bed according to claim 5, wherein said unitary manually operable pedal is adapted to be engaged and operated by a foot of an attendant.
  • 8. A hospital bed for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position, comprising:a base including first and second frame members; a patient support oriented above said base; at least first and second hydraulic jacks interconnecting said base and said patient support for raising and lowering said patient support relative to said base; a manually operable pump for pumping hydraulic fluid simultaneously to said first and second hydraulic jacks to effect a uniform raising of said patient support relative to said base, and means for effecting a manual operation of said pump; a first release valve for releasing hydraulic fluid from said first hydraulic jack; a first rotatable member for effecting, when rotated in a first direction, operation of said first release valve and removal of hydraulic fluid from said first hydraulic jack causing a lowering thereof; a second release valve for releasing hydraulic fluid from said second hydraulic jack; a second rotatable member spaced and separate from said first rotatable member for effecting, when rotated in the first direction, operation of said second release valve and removal of hydraulic fluid from said second hydraulic jack causing a lowering thereof; and a unitary third manually operable pedal having three manually engageable positions thereon and connecting to said first and second rotatable members, a first position of said three manually engageable positions rotating said first rotatable member in the first direction and not rotating said second rotatable member, a second position of said three manually engageable positions rotating said second rotatable member in the first direction and not rotating said first rotatable member, and a third position of said three manually engageable positions rotating said first and second manually operable members in the first direction to cause a simultaneous lowering of said first and second jacks.
  • 9. The hospital bed according to claim 8, wherein said third position is oriented intermediate said first and second positions.
  • 10. The hospital bed according to claim 8, wherein said unitary manually operable pedal is adapted to be engaged and operated by a foot of an attendant.
  • 11. The hospital bed according to claim 8, wherein said first and second rotatable members comprise respective first and second rods received by said frame members.
  • 12. The hospital bed according to claim 11, wherein said unitary manually operated pedal includes sockets which receive first ends of said first and second rods.
  • 13. The hospital bed according to claim 12, wherein said first and second rods extend through said frame members and a second unitary manually operated pedal including sockets receives second ends of said first and second rods.
  • 14. A hospital bed according to claim 13, wherein said first and second unitary manually operable pedals are positioned on opposing sides of said hospital bed.
Parent Case Info

This is a division of Ser. No. 09/003,777, filed Jan. 7, 1998.

US Referenced Citations (5)
Number Name Date Kind
3304116 Stryker Feb 1967
3739406 Kortter Jun 1973
4723808 Hines Feb 1988
5806111 Heimbrock et al. Sep 1998
6016580 Heimbrock et al. Jan 2000
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry
Stryker, “Advantage Strefchers”, May 1994, 6 pages.
Hausted, Inc., “The Gemini Series” Oct. 1993, 4 pages.