U.S. patent number 3,747,133 [Application Number 05/136,349] was granted by the patent office on 1973-07-24 for collapsible side rail assembly for hospital bed.
Invention is credited to Clyde B. Hutt.
United States Patent |
3,747,133 |
Hutt |
July 24, 1973 |
COLLAPSIBLE SIDE RAIL ASSEMBLY FOR HOSPITAL BED
Abstract
A side rail assembly comprising a pair of end members hingedly
mounted at their bottom ends in brackets attached to the bed frame
so as to swing from raised vertical position downwardly towards
each other to collapsed position; composite telescoping horizontal
rails extending between the end members; and locking means on one
of the horizontal rails for holding it in extended position to
maintain the end members in vertical position and the entire
assembly in raised position.
Inventors: |
Hutt; Clyde B. (Vancouver,
WA) |
Family
ID: |
22472453 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/136,349 |
Filed: |
April 22, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
5/429; 5/100 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61G
7/0507 (20130101); A61G 7/0509 (20161101); A61G
7/0515 (20161101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47C
21/08 (20060101); A47C 21/00 (20060101); A47c
021/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;5/331,100 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: McCall; James T.
Assistant Examiner: Calvert; Andrew M.
Claims
I claim:
1. A collapsible side rail assembly for a bed including a pair of
end members, a pair of elements secured to the head post and the
foot post respectively on the side of the bed frame, the bottom
ends of said end members hingedly supported in said elements
respectively so as to enable said end members to swing in a
vertical plane from vertical raised position in opposite directions
downwardly toward each other, a plurality of composite horizontal
rails hingedly connected at their ends to said end members
respectively, each of said horizontal rails comprising a plurality
of telescoping parts enabling them to contract longitudinally when
said end members are swund downwardly towards each other from
vertical raised position to lowered position, and means for locking
said assembly in raised position.
2. The side rail assembly as set forth in claim 1 with three
composite longitudinal rails extending between said end members,
the top horizontal rail joining the top ends of said end members
and consisting of three telescoping parts, the intermediate and
bottom composite rails each consisting of two telescoping parts,
and with said locking means mounted on the intermediate rail and so
arranged as to prevent any telescoping movement of the two parts of
said intermediate rail relatively with respect to each other while
said assembly is in fully raised position.
3. The side rail assembly as set forth in claim 2 with said
elements for mounting said end members of said assembly on the head
and foot posts of the bed frame comprising a pair of upright
channel-shaped brackets extending out from the side of the head
post and foot post of the bed frame, respectively, said end members
being similar in cross section to said brackets, with the bottom
portions of said end members fitting within said brackets, and with
the bottom ends of said end members hingedly supported in the
bottom ends of said brackets respectively.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various types of demountable side guards have been developed for
cribs and beds, particularly hospital beds. More recently these
have been foldable or collapsible as well as demountable so that
they can be raised into operating position or lowered to more or
less out-of-the-way position without actually having to be entirely
dismounted from the bed frame. U.S. Pat. No. 3,234,570, issued Feb.
16, 1966, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,248,744, issued May 3, 1966, show
recently improved side rail assemblies of this type. One objection
to the side rail assemblies described in these, as well as previous
patents, is that the rail assembly, when in fully raised position,
does not extend for the full length of the bed and thus does not
enclose the foot portion as well as the head portion. Other
objections to these and other foldable rail assemblies are that
they are too complicated in construction and thus rather expensive
to produce, are heavy and cumbersome to install on a bed frame or
to remove therefrom and are often troublesome for the hospital
attendant to operate.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved
collapsible and demountable side rail assembly suitable
particularly for hospital beds which will be easy and relatively
inexpensive to manufacture, using only a minimum of material in its
production, suitable for full length or three-quarter length bed,
extending the full length of the bed when raised, and which will be
quick and easy to manipulate when mounted on the bed.
A further object of this invention is to provide an improved side
rail assembly for a bed, which, while capable of providing a
maximum of safety for the patient in the bed, will present no
upkeep problem, will practically never require any repair, and at
the same time, whether in raised or lowered position, will be good
looking and attractive in appearance.
Another specific object is to provide such a collapsible side rail
assembly which, when in collapsed position, will be below the level
of the mattress and thus will not offer any interference with the
treatment of the patient in bed or with the arranging or changing
of the bed; and also will not at any time extend below the bed
springs or interfere in any way with ordinary housekeeping.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A pair of brackets, extending out from the sides of the front and
rear bed frame posts on the side of the bedstead where the rail
assembly is mounted, pivotally support the bottom ends of a pair of
end rail members which are mounted to swing in opposite directions
downwardly towards each other in a vertical plane from raised
vertical to lowered position. These end rail members hingedly
support the respective ends of horizontal telescoping rails,
preferably three in number. The top horizontal rail, which extends
between the top ends of the end members, comprises three
telescoping parts so as to enable it to be collapsed into a
sufficiently short length to permit the end members to swing down
freely until all the horizontal rails are brought substantially
into contiguous position, one above the other, enabling the rail
assembly in lowered position to be positioned entirely below the
bed mattress and springs and thus in entirely out-of-the-way
position. A latch on the two telescoping members comprising the
intermediate horizontal rail enables the rail assembly to be locked
in raised position when desired.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the bed frame with the side rail
assembly being shown in full lines in fully raised position and in
broken lines in lowered or collapsed position;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary section on line 2--2 of FIG. 1 drawn to a
larger scale;
FIG. 3 is a section on line 3--3 of FIG. 1 drawn to the same scale
as FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary foreshortened longitudinal sectional
elevation of the top telescoping rail in expanded position showing
the top portion of the end member of the rail assembly on the right
as viewed in FIG. 1; and
FIG. 5 is a section on line 5--5 of FIG. 1 showing the locking
means for the rail assembly on the middle telescoping rail.
Referring first to FIG. 1, a supporting post at the head of the bed
frame is indicated at 10 and the corresponding supporting post at
the foot of the bed frame is indicated at 11. As is shown, these
posts are formed in the customary manner of tubular metal which is
square in cross-section and are joined by a pair of angle-iron side
bed rails, one of which is indicated at 12. The top of the mattress
is indicated at M.
A vertical, channel-shaped bracket 13 is mounted on the head post
10, and a similar bracket 14 is mounted on the foot post 11. Since
these brackets are identical, except oppositely positioned, it will
suffice to describe the bracket 13 which is shown more fully in
FIGS. 2 and 3. The bracket 13 consists of a short channel-shaped
member formed with a pair of integral side arms 15 and 16 at the
top and bottom respectively by which the bracket is secured in
place on the bedpost 10, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, positioned out
a slight distance from the side of the bed frame.
A pair of identical channel-shaped end members 17 and 18 are
hingedly mounted at their bottom ends on hinge bolts 19 and 20,
respectively, near the bottom ends of the brackets 13 and 14
respectively. The channel-shaped end members 17 and 19 are similar
in cross-section to the brackets 13 and 14 but are sufficiently
smaller in cross-sectional size to fit within the brackets 13 and
14, and the bottom edges of the end members 17 and 18 are curved
about the hinge bolts 19 and 20 to enable the end members to swing
freely in arcs of nearly 90.degree. from the vertical raised
position (shown in full lines in FIG. 1) to the lowered positions
(shown in broken lines). When the end members are in fully raised
vertical position, they are held against any side movement by their
respective brackets and hinge bolts, the only movement being
permitted them being their downward swing towards each other. As
apparent from FIGS. 1 and 2, the bottom ends of the end members 17
and 18 and the bottom ends of their supporting brackets are located
below the side rails of the bed frame, and thus below the springs
and mattress of the bed. Preferably a thin bumper of resilient
material, indicated in broken lines at 21 in FIG. 2, is placed in
the top of each of the brackets 13 and 14 to cushion the shock when
the end members are swung up suddenly into vertical position by the
moving of the rail assembly into raised position, as later
described.
A composite top rail 22 has its ends pivotally connected to the top
of the end members 17 and 18 respectively. This composite rail 22
is composed of three telescoping portions 23, 24 and 25, as shown
in FIG. 1. This enables the top rail 22 to be contracted
sufficiently to enable the entire rail assembly to be collapsed to
the lowered out-of-the-way position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1
when the rail assembly is not needed. To prevent the possibility of
any of the three telescoping portions 23, 24 and 25 from
inadvertently being pulled entirely out of an adjacent connected
portion, the outer ends of the portions 23 and 24 are formed with a
narrow inwardly-extending annular flange 23' or 24' (FIG. 4), while
the inner ends of the portions 24 and 25 are provided with collars
26 and 27 respectively, to engage the flanges 23' and 24'
respectively, when these portions are pulled outwardly from each
other to the fullest extent.
A second or intermediate composite hoirzontal rail 28 has its ends
also pivotally connected to the end members 17 and 18 respectively,
as shown in FIG. 1. This composite rail 28 is composed of the two
telescoping parts 29 and 30. Since the overall length of this
intermediate rail does not have to be reduced to the same extent as
the top rail 22, when the assembly is lowered to the fully
collapsed position, as evident from FIG. 1, it is not necessary to
have this intermediate rail comprising more than the two
telescoping parts 29 and 30.
Similarly, a lower composite horizontal rail 31, having its ends
pivotally connected to the end members 17 and 18 respectively, is
composed of two telescoping parts 32 and 33, this lower rail
requiring to be reduced in length still less when the assembly is
in collapsed position, as apparent from FIG. 1.
In order to lock the assembly in fully raised position and to
prevent any inadvertent collapsing of the same, simple locking
means is provided on the intermediate horizontal rail 28 which
prevents the telescoping of its component parts 29 and 30 when this
rail is in fully extended position. This locking means, which is
shown in FIG. 5, comprises a spring-pressed button 34 mounted in
the part 30 of the rail which engages a properly located aperture
35 in the outer part 29 when the two parts 29 and 30 are brought
into fully extended relationship by the setting up of the rail
assembly into fully raised position.
To facilitate the raising and lowering of the rail assembly a pair
of hand holds 36 and 37 (FIGS. 1 and 5) are provided near the top
of the end member 18 and near the aperture 35 for the locking
button on the part 29 on the intermediate horizontal rail 28
respectively. This particular arrangement of the pair of operating
handles or hand holds has been found to be very convenient since
the attendant can easily grasp the hand holds 36 and 37
simultaneously with the right and left hands respectively, and,
when lowering the assembly, can at the same time press the locking
button 34 with the thumb of the left hand.
Due to the fact that the horizontal rails of the assembly are all
composed of telescoping parts the rail assembly can be made
suitable for beds of varying overall lengths, the only change
required being in the location of the locking button 34 in the part
30 of the intermediate rail 28. The telescoping tubular rails can
be made of lightweight material so that the entire assembly is
neither heavy nor cumbersome, but nevertheless will provide a
stable, safe and satisfactory side bed rail assembly when mounted
in place.
As apparent from FIG. 1, the side rail assembly, when set in fully
lowered position, will be entirely below the top of the matress and
thus completely out of the way of the patient. This assembly
occupies very little space in collapsed position and offers no
hindrance to the attendant in the changing or rearranging of the
bed. Even in collapsed condition it presents a good appearance. In
addition to the advantage of being so easily manipulated and
maintained, the low cost at which it can be produced has proved an
important factor.
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