Back Support

Abstract

A back support for use with a bed having a headboard, in which a back member has an upper edge adapted to bear against the headboard and a lower edge carrying a rearwardly extending arm having a flange adapted to bear against the mattress or frame of the bed. A seat may extend forwardly from the lower edge of the back member.

Description

This invention relates to a back support or chair for use by a person to sit up in a bed.

It is an object of the invention to provide a back support against which a person may lean his back while sitting up in a bed. The back support bears rearwardly on the head board of the bed to prevent rearward sliding relative to the bed and carries a flange engagable with the edge of the bed to prevent forward movement relative to the bed. A seat may be attached to project forwardly from the back support, replacing the bed as a support base.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment on the invention:

FIG. 1 shows a front perspective view of a back support positioned on a bed; and

FIG. 2 shows a rear perspective view of the back support shown in FIG. 1.

The embodiment shown in the drawings consist of a back support 10 adapted to be located in a bed 12 which includes a box mattress 14 and a headboard 15.

Back support 10 comprises a sloping back member 16 adapted to bear at its upper edge 17 rearwardly against headboard 15 of bed 12 to prevent rearward movement of the back support when in use. Rigidly attached to the lower end of back member 16 is a rearwardly extending arm 19 which terminates at its rearward extremity in a downwardly extending flange 20 adapted to bear on the outer edge 21 of the headboard end of mattress 14. Flange 20 lies in a vertical plane parallel to, or coincident with, the vertical plane in which upper edge 17 of back member 16 lies. The support may, if desired, be provided with a seat 22 extending forwardly from the bottom end portion of back member 16 in which case the patient will sit upon the seat instead of upon the bed. Seat 22 may be contoured, as seen in the drawings.

It will be seen that the present invention provides, for a person such as a bed patient, a back support or chair which is easily engagable with and disengagable from, the bed and which, when positioned on the bed, is held against forward or rearward movement relative to the bed. The person sitting on seat 22 gives the back support additional stability.

Back support 10 may be made of any suitable material. The use of plastic impregnated with glass fibers gives an amount of flexibility to back support 10 which allows back member 16 to bear against backboard 15 of bed 12 when upper edge 17 of the back member does not lie in the plane of flange 20.

It will be noted that if a frame surrounds the box mattress 14 or there is a mattress of a different type, downwardly extending flange 20 may rest against the outside of the frame instead of against the mattress, to retain back support 10 against forward movement.

It will also be noted that, within the scope of the invention, it is possible in other ways, well known to those skilled in the art, to form the device so that arm 19, flange 20, or the angle between them is adjustable either for the comfort of the user, or to suit different types of bed.

Claims

I claim:

1. A back support for use with a bed having a mattress and a head board, comprising:

A back member sloping from a lower edge portion upwardly and rearwardly to terminate in an upper edge lying in a vertical plane;

a fixed seat extending forwardly from the lower edge portion of the back member; and

a fixed arm extending rearwardly from the lower edge portion of the back member and terminating in a downwardly extending flange lying in a vertical plane parallel to the vertical plane of the upper edge of the back member whereby said upper edge lies against the headboard when the seat and the flange lie against the mattress.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the downwardly extending flange of the fixed arm lies in a plane coincident with the vertical plane of the upper edge of the back member.