Hospital-type Bed

Abstract

A bed having end frames with corner posts telescopingly assembled with floor engaging legs, there being separate cable elements associated with each end frame and each secured at one end to the upper portion of a leg and passing over sheaves in the end frame and secured at its other end to a takeup device on the end frame, and mechanism for actuating the takeup devices simultaneously. The takeup devices are intermediate the sides of the bed and the takeup devices at both ends of the bed are actuated by a single-operating crank projecting from the upper portion of one end of the bed. Preferably the takeup devices and mechanisms are substantially enclosed in the end frames except for a crank projecting from one end frame for manual operation.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hospital-type beds have had spring and mattress carrying structures which could be raised and lowered at each end of the bed by means of cable takeup devices and such beds have also included cables extending between the two end structures whereby the cable takeup device at both ends could be operated simultaneously. When such beds are assembled and disassembled for delivery for removal (as is customary in rental beds) there is a likelihood of the interconnecting cable kinking or becoming entangled with the bed legs or other parts, thus inconveniencing the persons handling the bed, or interfering with the operation of the takeup devices.

Among the objects of the present invention are to avoid inconvenience and expense in assembly and disassembly and to simplify raising and lowering both ends of a bed by providing a single actuator at one end of the bed for the raising and lowering mechanisms at both ends of the bed. These and other detail objects are attained by the structure described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is in part an elevation of an end member of a bed, preferably a food end, and in part a vertical section on line 1--1 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a detail vertical section on line 2--2 of FIG. 1 and is drawn to a larger scale.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section lengthwise of the bed on line 3--3 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The end frame shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes spaced corner posts 5 slidably receiving floor engaging legs 6 and connected at their upper ends by a top crossmember 8. A hollow crossmember 10 connects corner posts 5 midway the floor and the top crossmember. A vertically elongated box section housing 14 is mounted on crossmember 10 and projects below it. An upright panel 12 is attached to the corner posts and crossmembers. An upright threaded shaft 16 is journaled in crossmember 10 and in the upper end of housing 14. A nut 17 threaded on shaft 16 has a U-shaped clip 18 which slidably engages the inner faces of member 14 to hold the nut and clip against rotation about the shaft axis so that the nut and clip move upwardly and downwardly when the shaft is rotated manually by a crank 19 and bevel gearing 30. Cables 21, 22 are each attached at one end to clip 18 and extend over sheaves 25, 26, respectively, journaled on member 10, then over sheaves 27, 28 respectively, also journaled on member 10, then extend upwardly and are anchored at their other ends to the upper ends of corresponding legs 6 to support the end frame through the sheaves.

The anchorage includes a pawl 43 pivoted at one end to leg 6 by a pin 44. If the end frame is lifted manually and legs 8 relieved of their load, a spring 45 thrusts pawl 43 into frictional contact with the corner post which avoids the leg sliding down of its own weight. This type of cable anchorage to the leg is disclosed in an application by the present applicant filed July 3, 1969, Ser. No. 838,787.

When nut 17 moves upwardly the cables are taken up to raise the end frame relative to the legs. Beveled gearing 30 at the lower end of shaft 16 connects the latter with a horizontal stub shaft 32 journaled in member 14. This mechanism is duplicated in the end frame at the other end of the bed, as indicated at 5a, 6a, 12a, 14a, 30a and 32a in FIG. 3. The mechanisms at opposite ends of the bed are interconnected by an elongated shaft comprising main members 33 and 34 joined by a sleeve 35 welded at W to one member 34 and having a pin and slot connection to one end of shaft member 33. A tube 39 slidably receives the other end of shaft member 33 and the outer end of stub shaft 32. A transverse pin 36 seated in the outer end of stub shaft 32 extends through an open-end slot in the outer end of tube 39. A transverse pin 38 extends through the other end of tube 39 and a closed end slot in shaft member 33. A coil spring 40 is compressed between the end of shaft member 33 and a transverse pin 41 in tube 39 and yields to accommodate disengagement of the tube from stub shaft 32. Shaft member 34 is connected to the other bed end mechanism by a tube 39a similar to tube 39 but without a takeup spring as shown at 40. The elongated shaft structure enables a person using a single crank at one end of the bed to operate upright shafts 16 at both ends of the bed simultaneously and thereby raise or lower the bed spring and mattress (not shown) while keeping them level. If it is desired to place the bed spring and mattress in the Trendelenberg or reverse Trendelenberg position with one end higher than the other end, the attendant may crank shaft 16 to raise or lower the remote end frame to the desired level, then withdraw tube 39 from stub shaft 32 and rotate shaft 16 to shift the adjacent end frame to the opposite position without changing the height of the disconnected end frame.

If the bed is to be dismantled for transporting to a different building, the connecting shaft may be completely removed from stub shafts 32 and 32a and then the end frames may be handled separately after the usual bed spring frame connecting the end frames is removed. When the bed is set up or taken down there is no need to disassemble the cable takeup device on either end frame nor is it necessary to connect or disconnect or handle any loose cables as could complicate such operations.

The details of the structure and the sequence of operations may be varied substantially from the specific description without departing from the spirit of the invention and the claimed invention is not limited to those details.

Claims

I claim:

1. A hospital bed comprising head and foot frames, side rails connecting the head and foot frames, and a spring frame supported by the side rails, floor-supported leg members, corner posts on each head and foot frame, the corner posts receiving the leg members and being vertically slidable thereon, the head and foot frames having a vertically disposed housing, a rod housed in and journaled in said housing of each frame, the rod having a threaded portion thereon, a nut on the threaded portion, the nut being nonrotatable and slidably engaging the housing, sheaves journaled in the head and foot frames adjacent a lower portion of the housing, and a side sheave journaled on each lower side portion of each head and foot frame adjacent each corner post thereof, individual cables secured at one end to the nut with the other end secured to an upper portion of a floor-supported leg member and passing over the nearer sheave and side sheave, and means exteriorly of at least one of the frames rotating the rod in that frame to cause the nut on the rod to move along the rod to pull or release the cable to raise and lower that frame on the leg members, gear means on the lower end of the rod, a stub shaft in the lower end of the housing and extending outwardly therefrom, gear means on the stub shaft meshing with the gear means on the rod and being driven thereby upon rotation of the rod, a horizontally disposed shaft interconnecting the stub shafts, the shaft having telescoping members thereon, spring means maintaining the telescoping members extended and in engagement with the stub shafts and readily removable therefrom, the horizontal shaft driving the rod on the other frame to raise and lower the spring frame simultaneously with the one frame and by disconnecting the horizontally disposed shaft, the one frame may be raised or lowered to angularly dispose the spring frame with relation to the other frame, and to easily dismantle the entire bed for storage and transporting.

2. A bed as set forth in claim 1 wherein a pawl is pivotally mounted on the upper portion of each floor-supported leg member, a spring thrusting the swinging end of each pawl transversely of the leg into an engagement with an inner face of the associated corner post, each cable being connected to the pawl, each pawl being clear of said post when the corner post is supported by said cable but thrust against the inner face of the corner post by the spring if the head and foot frames are lifted independently of the cable to relieve the cable and pawl of their normal load.