US2873457A - Bed with adjustable invalid lift - Google Patents

Description

Feb.'17, 1959 .1. F. JOY

BED WITH ADJUSTABLE INVALID LIFT 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 uifww Filed Feb, 25, 1955 I 122202220! fose iz I. Toy 33/ "I dfiarzzeg/ Feb. 17, 1959 'J. F. JOY 2,873,457

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BED WITH ADJUSTABLE INVALID LIFT 4 Sheets-Sheet ,5

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JWwwef BED WKTH ADJUSTAhLE INVALH) LIFT Joseph F. Joy, Pittsburgh, Pa. Application February 25, 1955, Serial No. 490,450 2 Ciainis. (Cl. --33) This invention relates to beds for invalids and more pirticularly to a hospital bed having an adjustable invalid In my copending application Serial No. 467,083, filed November 5, 1954, which is a continuation of my copending application Serial No. 137,103, filed January 6, 1950, now abandoned, there is shown a hospital bed with invalid lift and the present invention contemplates improvements over such a bed, and similar known types of beds, in that the structure is simplified and made more readily adjustable. The bed of the present invention embodies a single vertically adjustable stretcher arranged above the conventional mattress and this stretcher has relatively tiltable parts operated by the elevating mechanism for the stretcher whereby the patient may at times assume a relatively comfortable position.

An object of the present invention is therefore to provide an improved hospital bed having an improved adjustable invalid lift. Another object is to provide an improved adjustable bed having a vertically adjustable stretcher superimposed with respect to the mattress whereby the patient lying on the mattress may be elevated above the mattress. Yet another object is to provide an improved bed having an improved superimposed stretcher above the mattress provided with relatively tiltable portions which may be tilted by movement of the stretcher during lowering thereof by its adjusting mechanism. A further object is to provide an improved stretcher having detachable fabric strips and sheet sections whereby while the patient on the stretcher is adequately supported access to and handling of the patient on the stretcher may be facilitated. These and other objects and advantages of the invention will however more fully appear in the course of the ensuing description.

In the accompanying drawings there is shown for purposes of illustration one form which the invention may assume in practice.

In these drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a hospital bed.

constructed in accordance. with a preferred illustrative embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an end elevational View of the head end of the bed shown in. Fig. 1. i

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of the foot end of the bed, showing the. adjustable traction sheaves.

Fig. 4 is a detail vertical section taken on line 4l4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary cross section taken on line 55 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross section taken on the planes of line 6-6 of Fig. l.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the left-' hand portion of the structure shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a central. longitudinal vertical section, with parts shown in full, taken on line 858. of Fig. 2, and showing the pivoted stretcher parts in tilted positions.

Fig. s a. d tail hori ontal section k n Q of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a horizontal section taken on line lit-lit of Fig. 1 showing details of the adjustable stretcher.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail vertical section taken on line ill-11 of Fig. 10, showing the pivots for the tiltable stretcher parts.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary cross section taken on line 12-12 of Fig. 10. I

Fig. 13 is an enlarged detail horizontal section taken on line iii-13 of Fig. l.

The improved bed with adjustable invalid lift, as shown in the drawings, generally comprises a frame 1 having a vertical head section or head board 2, a vertical foot section or foot board 3 and side sections or side bars 4 attached to the head and foot boards, and the latter have legs 5 supported by swivelled caster wheels '5. Theframe of the bed supports a conventional mattress 7 and super. imposed with respect to the mattress is an adjustable invalid lift or stretcher 8. A horizontal rod 9 extends at the longitudinal center of the bed longitudinally between the upper portions of the head and foot boards and adjustable longitudinally along this red is a suitable support in for a mirror or other accessory equipment.

Any suitable motor operated mechanism may be provided for raising and lowering the stretcher and here-in, for illustrative purposes, comprises a horizontal frame 12 secured to the legs 5 of the head and foot boards beneath the mattress. Supported by th lower frame is a motor 13, herein desirably an electric motor, controlled by switch levers l conveniently located at the sides of the head board. '1' his motor has a vertical shaft 15 (Fig. 8) secured to a drive sprocket This sprocket engages and drives an endiess chain l7 housed within the lower frame 12 as shown, and this chain around and drives end sprockets secured to the lower ends of vertical adjusting devices herein vertical screws 19 supported by and suitably journaled within the low-er frame 2. The e screws are threadedly engaged in el gated upright nut members 28 secured to vertical end plates 21 connected to vertical side angle members 22 guided within outer vertical angle members of the head and foot boards. The side supports or side bars 24- for the stretcher may have end cross members and.

are secured to the vertical plates 21 so that whenthe motor 13 is operated the stretcher i may be raised or lowered relative to the mattress asdesired. T he threads of the screws and nuts are self lockin and serve to hold the stretcher in adjusted position.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the side bars 4 of the bed-frame provide inner ledges 25 by which a conven-.

tional bedspring 26 may be supported and the mattress supported bythe spring may, as shown in. 6, be of the usual inner-spring type. The stretcher side bars 24,

when the stretcher is lowered, extend longitudinally.

along the outer sides of the mattress as shown. 7 Secured to the sides of the lower frame l2 at inner sides ofthe legs 5 are upright nut membersZi in which are threadedly engagedvertical screws 28 h aving bottom fioor engaging feet29. Secured to the upper endsof these screws are handles 3% so that the screwsrnay be. manually rotated to raise orlower the feet with respect. Thus, the bed may be raised from to the floor surface. its caster wheels 6 onto the feet 29 to afford greater steadiness of the bed. i r

The. invalid lift. or stretcher 8 comprises centrally. located or middle side plates SZ-onwhich are pivotally supported at 33 and 34, on transverse pivot pins 3:; (Fig. 11), stretcher frame sections 36 andl3'7, and. these pivoted sections may be tilted into ditt'erent angularpositions. so that the patient on the. stretcher may recline. in a relatively comfortable position- Extending. across the side portions of the stretcher frame are cross strips i atented Feb. 17, 2%59;

38 of fabric or webbing disposed closely side by side with their adjacent edges connected together as by conventional slide fasteners 38 (Fig. and these strips cooperate to form a continuous flexible support for the patient on the stretcher. Desirably'these cross strips are provided with eyelets or grommets 39 attachable to headed pins 40 secured along the tops of the sides and ends of the stretcher frame. Extending above and lying uponthese cross strips are strips 41 of sheeting similarly attachable to the stretcher frame. These cross strips may be separately detached to facilitate bathing of the patient on the stretcher or otherwise to obtain access to portions of the patients body. Also the cross sheeting sections may be readily replaced as desired without removing the patient from the stretcher.

The central or intermediate cross strip and overlying strip of sheeting are formed with suitable registering openings, as indicated at 42 (Fig. 10), and a usual receptacle such as a bed pan 43 may be placed on the mattress beneath these openings, in the manner shown in Fig. 8.

The tilting mechanism for the pivoted frame sections of the stretcher comprises pairs of pivoted side arms or armlike struts 45 and 46 secured to transverse pivot shafts or rods 47 (Fig. 6) carried by and journaled on the side bars 4 of the mattress supporting frame. These side arms have slotted outer ends 48 and abutments such as pins 49 secured to the sides of the pivoted sections of the stretcher frame are engaged by the slotted ends of the arms with the pins seated in the slots. When the arms are lowered into their inoperative positions as shown in full lines in Fig. 1 they may rest on suitable brackets 50 attached to the side bars 4. The arms have conveniently located handles 51 whereby they may be raised and lowered. When the slotted ends of the strutlike arms are engaged with the pins 49, with the stretcher frame in its elevated position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8, the motor operated mechanism 19, 2t! may be operated to lower the stretcher frame and as the stretcher frame is lowered the strut-like arms cause the tiltable frame sections 36 and 37 of the stretcher frame to swing into the angular positions indicated in full lines in Fig. 8, thereby to enable the patient on the stretcher to assume a relatively comfortable position. Evidently a series of pins may be located at difierent positions along the sides of the tiltable frame sections for selective engagement with the strut-like arms so that the angles of tilt thereof may be varied as desired.

Pivoted at 52 on the tiltable frame sections 36 and 37 are struts or armlike supports 53 provided with handles 54 and these supports 53 may engage the teeth 55 of rack-like members 56 integral With the side bars 24 of the adjustable stretcher frame, thus to hold the tilted frame sections in position. The frame sections 36 and 37 may be tilted at different angles and at times may be manually supported to permit release of the arms 45 and 46 and then held in position by the members 53,

weights 64. A weighted cable 65 may be attached to a head cast 66 to provide traction for the neck of the patient in a well-known manner.

The general mode of use of the improved hospital bed is as follows: Normally the invalid lift or stretcher 8 is lowered down onto the mattress 7 so that the weight of the patient is received by the mattress. When it is desired to change the bedding on the mattress this may be facilitated by elevating the stretcher to lift the patient above the mattress to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 8. Also at this time certain ones of the cross strips of fabric and sheeting may be detached from the stretcher frame to permit access to portions of the patients body or to facilitate replacement of the strips while the patient remains supported by the stretcher. The slide fasteners connecting the adjacent edges of the fabric strips 38 enable the latter to provide in cooperation a continuous flexible support for the patient on the stretcher. By properly engaging the strut-like arms 45 and 46 with the pins 49 on the pivoted frame sections 36 and 37 of the stretcher frame and by lowering the stretcher by means of the power mechanism, the pivoted frame sections of the stretcher frame may be tilted, as indicated in full lines in Fig. 8, thereby to enablethe patient to assume a relatively comfortable position. The pivoted supports 53 engaging the rack teeth 55 provide rigid holding means for the tilted frame sections and by the use of these supports 53 the stretcher frames may be independently tilted as desired. To enable the bed to be and by properly operating the power elevating mechanism the tiltable frame sections may be separately tilted. The tilted sections of the stretcher frame may be lowered in a similar manner by the elevating mechanism simply by raising the stretcher frame to permit the frame sections 36 and 37 to swing back down into their lowered positions. The pivoted supports 53 may be folded against the pivoted frame sections of the stretcher frame as shown in Fig. 1.

The vertical end plates 21 of the vertically adjustable stretcher frame are provided with parallel vertical slots.

57 (Figs. 2 and 3) having side notches 58 and brackets 59 for traction sheaves or pulleys 60 (Fig. 4) are attachable at different elevations in'theslots in engagement with the proper notches. Cables 61 extend from suitable arm and leg casts 62 and 63, shown in dotted lines in.

Fig. 1, around these sheaves and are attached to suitable easily rolled over the floor and steered, the feet 29 may be raised from the floor so that the bed is at that time supported entirely by the swivelled caster wheels 6.

As a result of this invention an improved hospital bed is provided having an improved adjustable invalid lift or stretcher. By the provision of the power operated elevating mechanism for the stretcher and the associated strutlike arms, the pivoted parts of the stretcher frame may be relatively tilted as desired simply :by lowering the stretcher frame eliminating the need for relatively complicated tilting devices. The series of detachable cross strips of fabric and sheeting enable ready access to portions of the body of the patient lying on the stretcher and also serve to facilitate replacement of the strips while the patient remains in supported position on the stretcher. These and other advantages of the invention will be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art.

While there is in this application specifically described one form which the invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this form of the same is shown for purposes of illustration and that the invention may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bed of the character disclosed comprising a bedframe having a horizontal portion supporting a mattress,

. with respect to said mattress, a releasable'adjustable element on said bed-frame and when in operative position engaging said tiltable frame portion for causing tilting of said tiltable frame portion as the result of lowering of said stretcher by said power operated mechanism and while said horizontal portion of said bed-frame remains horizontal, and additional adjustable means for locking said tiltable frame portion in tilted position independently of said adjustable element whereby said tiltable frame portion may be held in any of its tilted positions when said adjustable element is released. V

2. A bed of the character set forth in claim 1 wherein said additional locking means comprises a pivoted strut mounted on said tiltable frame portion, and abutment teeth are provided on said stretcher frame with which said strut is engageable.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hutchinson June 12, 1866 Weber May 25, 1886 Richards Oct. 31, 1905 McGough Nov. 20, 1906 Csuthy May 11, 1909 Gossard May 6, 1919 6 Munson Nov. 4, 1930 Raffo July 23, 1935 Martinson Apr. 14, 1942 Ettinger May 1, 1951 Deves et a1. Apr. 7, 1953 Travis Nov. 10, 1953 Hughes Apr. 20, 1954 Bolger June 19, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Nov. 10, 1883 France Dec. 27, 1910

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