Hospital Bed

Abstract

This disclosure relates to a bed structure particularly adapted for hospital use. By this invention and disclosure provision is made for bed adjustments both by the occupant and by selected supervisory personnel. The adjustments are made from two separate control consoles, one of which is within reach of the bed occupant and the other of which is usually placed in the front of the bed out of reach of the bed occupant. The second console out of reach of the bed occupant can, if desired, be locked to preclude a change by any other than authorized personnel. The consoles are arranged to provide a control such that the bed position may be changed in order that the entire bed may be raised or lowered, or that the bed may be tilted forward or backward, or only selected portions of the bed may be elevated or lowered or changed in relative positions. The controls are so arranged that the occupant can make the selected adjustments. However, when desired, the occupant may be prevented, by controls beyond the occupant's reach, from making any adjustments.

Description

This invention relates to bed structures which are particularly adapted for use in treating hospitalized patients or occupants of the bed.

This bed structure essentially comprises a frame which is substantially completely functional. It is therefore responsive to all kinds of adjustments for treatments and emergency procedures in which patients might be involved. The bed is formed preferably of a recessed frame base so constructed that the supported bed side-walls, which would normally be used for some patients or to prevent patients leaving or falling out from the bed, may be lowered and folded completely beneath the bed at selected times so that the bed-ridden patient readily and easily can be treated from either side of the bed without becoming annoying to any party who is to treat the patient.

Essentially the design and structural features of the invention are such that they prevent dirt and decay from lodging in portions which would otherwise be substantially unreachable. Therefore, it is easily possible for attendants to maintain a completely clean atmosphere with care given to sanitation.

Structurally, the bed normally is supported upon a light tubular framework which may be either in the form of a unitary structure or which may be formed of various sections which are individually attachable to one another and thus movable as desired.

The structure is designed to provide great ease in raising or lowering the complete bed or any of its parts or sections, relative to one another. Usually the bed is sectional with each section movable with respect to each other section. This control is established preferably either by providing a moving mechanism that is normally out of the reach of a person occupying the bed. The control is preferably from the front of the bed (so far as the main operation is concerned) so that the patient has no access thereto. Such control is preferably effected through the use of controlled position contact elements normally adapted to control a drive, such as on electrically driven motors, serving to connect with and to operate the different sections of the bed or the bed as a whole with all parts concurrently functioning.

In one preferred form the bed may consist of elevatable sections for both head and foot and also sections positioned therebetween which are individually movable relative to each other, as well as movable relative to the head and foot regions. These various sections are held in a unitized frame between normally removable (and even reversible) head and foot boards with the complete bed structure positioned between the framework in such a fashion that all portions of the bed are made accessible and yet capable of being raised and/or lowered in any desired fashion.

As the bed is formed the framework basically consists, in its preferred embodiment, of a generally parallelogram type form adapted for holding and supporting the several articulated bed sections already named. The bed structure is capable of being moved into many more or less critical formations including the so-called contour formation between the head and foot sections. In the case of a completely automatic bed operation a plurality of motors is usually arranged and associated with the controls to provide either a semi-automatic or a fully automatic motor driven combination.

Control of the various bed positions is preferably established by means of control or console units of which one is normally placed generally adjacent to an end position within reach of the bed patient and another control console interlocked therewith is placed in a region which is inaccessible to the patient but non-operative except with a functioning of the main control after supervision of the doctors or nurses. Suitable interlocks between the controls are provided so that, where the patient is physically able to determine which of the several positions might be adapted, this can be achieved either by the patient operating a control unit within easy reach or can be controlled from the control console. This gives the patient control over features of the bed movement, however, according to the present invention a control out of the reach of the patient can prevent any operation of the bed by the patient. Thus the remote control can lock out or render unusable the patient control and the lock-out or inoperative period can be set for desired times from the main console and then effected by nurses, doctors or members of a hospital staff. Often the main control console is maintained in a locked state to preclude any possibility of operation not authorized and that the patient shall not have control over the bed movement or elevation unless authorized.

Also it can be understood that with the control arrangement and the sectionalized bed it is possible to not only provide the so-called contour positioning of the bed proper but also the complete bed may easily be arranged in the critical shock or drainage control positions. By reason of the control established by the mounting of the bed support frame it is possible to obtain a wide range of elevated positionings relative to the floor, thereby making treatments of the patient substantially easier, particularly where elevation of the bed is important, or where it is important to make a structure where the patient can easily remove himself from the bed (where the patient is in an ambulatory state, for instance) the lowered position is very useful.

The foregoing features will be set forth in further detail in the following description of the apparatus in one of its preferred forms but in the meantime it can be appreciated that the bed structure is adjustable to various fixed heights or it can be positioned so that either the head or the foot portion is elevated relative to other regions or so that the patient's knees can be elevated relative to other body parts. This provides a structure which is particularly convenient and functionally usable in many different circumstances. Essentially it might be regarded that one of the objectives of the invention is that of providing a bed structure which is flexible, reliable, economical and at the same time attractive and functionally useful in design.

An object of the invention is to provide a bed in which means are provided to effectively and positively prevent the patient from controlling various movements of the bed for positioning of the bed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bed in which the means for preventing the patient from controlling various positions are located remote from and therefore inaccessible to the patient.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a bed in which the control, which is remote from the patient, is also provided with means for effecting changes in the position of the bed from a location inaccessible to the patient.

A further object of the invention is that of providing a form of structure which serves a critical function particularly in hospitals and where any special surface contour if important can be achieved easily in a minimal time period.

Another object of the invention is to provide an economical hospital type bed that is usable for every known kind of treatment and emergency procedure.

Many other and further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from reading the following description and claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is a general perspective of the bed structure for achieving all desired forms of movement;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the control apparatus showing in one form a pneumatically operative unit the control effected by the patient and the control effected by supervisory personnel from outside the region of reach of the patient.

FIG. 3 is a showing of a top plan view of one form of the control which is remote from the patient and controllable by supervisory personnel, thereby to establish the operative periods of a control console accessible to the person within the bed to provide a limited and controlled bed movement of selected character;

FIG. 4 is a front view of one section of the control shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the apparatus shown by FIG. 3 with the controlling means in position to lock out the patient's control.

Referring now to the drawings, the bed proper is supported upon a rectangular shaped recessed member 11 having elongated sides and usually shorter ends. At the corners of this frame, caster members 13 are suitably positioned and hold rotatable wheels 14 on an axle 15.

The bed form shown in FIG. 1 is merely illustrative of one form of the beds which may be utilized with the present invention. The showing is not to be construed as in any way limiting the invention but is merely utilized to facilitate the description of one embodiment of the bed with which the invention may be used. In this form a recessed member 11 supports a bed. The structure consisting of a pair of arcuate members 18 is carried at about the center of the member 11 and capable, by means of connecting arms 20, 21 to raise or lower an upper tubular section 22 which is attached thereto by means of a pivoted connection (not shown) to a suitable supported element 23.

In addition the arcuate member 18 may be moved by means of the linkage 25, 26 and 27 so that the head portion or the foot portion of the bed may be raised or lowered as desired. The arcuate member thus provides a rocking action to raise or lower the head or foot portion through the above described linkage driven by crank means (not shown).

Furthermore, as above stated, the high and low positions may be achieved in various ways. As shown in FIG. 1 links 20 and 21 are connected to the side frame and any connection between them, if moved, will cause the links to be moved toward or away from the arcuate support. In one preferred form this is achieved by the schematically represented motor 30 turning a feed screw 31 which causes the links to be turned and thereby raise or lower the frame as a whole. One suitable control of this type is shown by the applicant Benoit herein in his U.S. Pat. No. 3,510,886, dated May 12, 1970.

The frame further comprises a support for carrying tubular members 35, 36, 37, and 38, which connect with each other at the schematically illustrated pivot points 39, 40 and 41, respectively, so that a movement of any one of these sections may be effected without changing the position of all other elements.

Illustratively, the schematically represented motor combination 30 may comprise a plurality of motor driven elements each of which is separately controlled and which functions relative to certain component parts. One of these motors, as already explained, may be utilized to drive the elements functioning to change the position of the link members 20 and 21 thereby effecting a raising or a lowering of the bed member as a whole. Another of the motors is adapted to raise or lower the knee tubular sections 35, 36 relative to the section 37 and 38. Still another motor is adapted to raise or lower the head section 38.

In raising or lowering the tubular sections 35, 36, the section 36 is connected to a link 36A which is driven by a drive screw (not shown). As the screw is turned by the rotating motor the tubular section 36 is moved upward and away from the footboard 45 to thereby increase the distance from the end of the bed 46. Members 35 and 36 are joined together and as a consequence both are moved upwardly at the knee portion to any desired position. The members 35 and 36 may, of course, be lowered by the activation of the appropriate switch.

In the same fashion the head portion 38 may be raised or lowered.

The various positions are achieved by the separate motor parts 71, 72, and 73, which are viewed from the side in FIG. 1 but in FIG. 2 are shown as separate entities. When motors are energized the motor shafts 74, 75 and 76 are turned and bring about a movement sufficient to effect the above described movements. Energization of the various motors 71, 72 and 73 is achieved by the closure of electrical switches to bring about a rotation of the motors in either a clockwise or a counter clockwise direction.

As shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings various switches numbered 83, 83', 84, 84', 85, and 85' are provided for respective activation of motors 71, 72 and 73 to place the bed in the various desired positions as hereinafter described. The switches are pneumatically or fluid controlled by respective activation of one of the bellows motors 90, 91, 92, 93, 94 and 95. While, according to the present invention a variety of components for fluid actuated members may be utilized, the bellows illustrated for exemplary purposes may be made from plastic in the form of an expanding part molded to a block-like formation which includes an inlet for the fluid operating pressure. There is provided an expandable disc or bellows portion through which the inlet connects through a passage. The bellows may be formed from a plurality of concave back-to-back disc sections, such as those shown, at 91 (FIG. 3). These are molded normally to a block member, such as 102, and one of the disc sections is joined to and arranged opposite the other end over the first disc, such as by peripheral heat sealing. Such a block shape member may have either one or two parts with an intermediate section of small diameter to provide a mounting shaft from a bracket member or holder particularly adapted to hold the actuator in association with a switch member, such as one of the parts of a switch element of the general type of element 87 in FIG. 2. The arrangement is such that the bellows may be expanded by the control to engage or disengage and actuate a controlled switch unit as discussed in detail hereinafter.

The various positions of the bed may be attained by the patient through the console portion 110. The various positions and the movements may be initiated and stopped under control of the various buttons which are located on the console. For example, when button 113 is depressed fluid pressure, such as air pressure, is passed through tubular element 114 which leads into bellows section 91. The expansion of the bellows activates switch 84' to energize the motor 72 which raises the entire bed through the gears and linkage hereinabove described. When button 120 is depressed air is injected through tubular element 122 expanding the bellows 90 to turn on switch 84. This in turn activates the motor 72 to lower the bed.

Similarly, the bed occupant can actuate the control button 125 leading through the tubular member 126 to the bellows 95 thereby to close a similar switch 83' which will have the effect of operating the motor 71 to raise the head section 38 of the bed. However, if the button 128 should be depressed then this will force a burst of pressure through the conduit 129 to actuate the bellows 94 and, in turn, cause the switch 83 and motor 71 to a head-lowering effect.

Actuation of the control button 135 by the bed occupant will be effective through the tubular member 136 to expand bellows 93 to raise the knee section of the bed, which, as already described, involves joined sections 35 and 36. This is achieved by actuation of the bellows 93 to actuate switch 85' thus operate the motor 73. The reverse effect can be achieved by pushing the button 141 which will then pass fluid pressure through the conduit 142 and actuate the motor unit 73 by closing the switch 85 by means of the expended bellows 92. The mid-section is then lowered. The controls of the different bed movements are those which the bed occupant can achieve.

It has been found that controls only within the access of the patient, while necessary in many cases to insure the patient's comfort, have highly undesirable effects. For example, under certain conditions a patient may be placed in a pre-determined position prescribed by a physician or nurse but nevertheless the patient may operate the accessible controls inadvertently or otherwise to change such position to the detriment of his condition. Often an uncomfortable feeling causes the patient to deliberately change the controls or when the patient is unconscious the controls may be activated by some movement of the patient despite his total or partial immobilization. The structure and means provided by the present invention overcome the aforesaid difficulties and insure an effective and positive prevention of the activation of the patient control by simple manipulation by the attending physician or nurse. The invention contemplates the beneficial use of simple and economical means for locking out and deactivating all or any specific portion of the patient's control means. For this purpose there are provided slide knobs 145, 151 and 157 which are accessible to the physician or nurse when the panel cover 143 is raised. It is to be noted that these controls are remote from the patient. The sliding control elements 145, 151 and 157 are provided respectively at the interior end with wedge-shaped protrusions 146, 152 and 158. The wedge-shaped protrusions are located intermediate bars 147, 149, 153, 155, 159 and 161, which are provided respectively with slots 148, 150, 154, 156, 160 and 162. Thus, when any of the sliding elements are moved outwardly, the respective wedge will press between the bars which slide within the slots and engage the normally expandable surfaces of the bellows to prevent any expansion thereof whereby no fluid pressure coming from the conduits can expand the bellows to activate the appropriate switch in the manner clearly shown of a section of the control in FIG. 5.

The effect of the operation of the control knobs 145, 151 and 157 is to interrupt any control of the bellows by way of the occupant-actuated pneumatic tubes 126, 129, 136, 142, etc. In this way regardless of what the bed occupant does with respect to the buttons on the console control 110 it becomes impossible to effect any kind of bed movement operation at all. This control can be modified for any desired position or combination of positions.

For clarity and brevity the operation of the control knobs and the switches are shown in FIG. 5 which for illustrative purposes is the control over the knee portion. When the patient is making the adjustment button 135 is depressed on the control panel which causes air to flow through tube 136 expanding the bellows 93 to turn on switch 85' and activate the motor 73. The knee portion is then raised. To lower the knee portion the patient depresses button 141 causing air to flow through tube 142 which expands bellows 92 to turn on the switch 85 and activate the motor 73. As shown in FIG. 5 the present invention provides means to lock out the patient's control and prevent the operation thereof. To accomplish this result control knob 157 is pulled outwardly of the panel causing the wedge to pass between bars 159 and 161 which slide to the left and right respectively in slots 160 and 162. These bars then abut the bellows 92 and 93 to prevent any expansion thereof. After this action it is not possible to activate the switches by any depression of the buttons 135 or 141 and the patient cannot exercise any control.

While FIG. 5 shows the action with relation to the control knob 157 and the wedge 158 upon the bellows 92 and 93 it will be understood that the same action may be obtained for locking out other positions by pulling out knob 145 and corresponding wedge 146 which will deactivate the respective bellows 94 and 95 shown in FIG. 3 and prevent control by the patient over the movements associated therewith.

With the present invention it will therefore be seen that there are numerous varieties of controls for various positions and deactivation of such controls may be obtained as desired.

Furthermore, specific controls may be placed within the control panel which is remote from the patient. For example, it is possible to raise the bed to a so-called high medium position by pulling knob 164 which acts upon switch 165 to raise the bed to a preset high medium position. To raise the bed to a high maximum position it is only necessary to pull out bar 166 which moves switch bar 167 to energize the motor to raise the bed to the maximum high position. To lower the bed control knob 168 is pulled out which activates switch bar 168a causing the motor to be turned on to lower the entire bed. Furthermore, by pulling out the stop control knob 169 it is possible to stop the raising or lowering of the bed at any intermediate position as control knob 169 causes wedge 152 to pass between the bars 153 and 155 riding in slots 170 and 171 to deactivate the bellows 90 and 91 in the manner above set forth and to stop the raising or lowering of the bed at a desired point. These controls are also susceptible to a variety of functions according to the specific installation.

Thus it may be seen that a control for beds is provided which effectively accomplishes the result of preventing any patient control of any position function by relatively simple and reliable means. In addition, other positive positioning controls may be utilized in the lockout control panel.

While the invention has been described in detail to facilitate an understanding thereof, it is to be understood that variations and modifications may be made without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention as defined within the appended claims.

Claims

Having now described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A device for providing a supervisory control of the movement of a bed structure adapted to be moved to selected positions and having an external control apparatus for effecting preestablished position control of the several positions, a supplementary auxiliary and supervisory control means for deactivating any selected externally-controlled positioning, control console means provided adjacent to the bed and in a region reachable by the bed occupant for effecting selected desired movement controls, and a supplemental control removed from the position of the bed occupant for temporarily deactivating at least a portion of the control console to preclude control motion thereby of at least any related section of the bed.

2. The device claimed in claim 1 wherein the bed structure is sectional and including means to control the selected positioning of any of the sections individually and collectively.

3. The device for controlling a bed as claimed in claim 2 wherein the bed comprises a plurality of separately adjustable sections adapted to be raised and lowered in a controllable manner relative to each other, a first console means generally adjacent to the bed and having a number of controls corresponding to selected separate sections, adjustment control means for the bed sections thereby to change the position of one bed section relative to another, and a second console means interlocked with the first console means also for effecting a change in the position of the different bed sections when activated, and lock-out means contained in the second console means for locking out preselected sections from the console means for precluding a positional change of the bed at predetermined controlled sections for selected time periods.

4. The bed structure claimed in claim 1 comprising, in addition, a frame mechanism for supporting the bed structure, means for elevating and lowering the complete bed structure relative to the frame, dual control means for effecting the positional change of the bed structure relative to the frame and means included in one of the dual control means for temporarily deactivating at least a portion of the other control means.

5. The bed structure claimed in claim 2 comprising, in addition, a frame mechanism for supporting the bed structure, means for elevating and lowering the complete bed structure relative to the frame, dual control means for effecting the positional change of the bed structure relative to the frame and means included in one of the dual control means for temporarily deactivating at least a portion of the other control means.

6. The bed structure claimed in claim 1 comprising, in addition, means for elevating and lowering the head end of the bed while retaining the foot end of the bed in substantially a fixed position, one element at each of the said control means each having a connection to initiate a raising or a lowering of the bed structure to the assumed position, and means positioned in one of the control units for temporarily disabling the operation of the other control unit while retaining its own operational control.

7. The bed structure claimed in claim 1 comprising, in addition, means for elevating and lowering the foot end of the bed while retaining the head end of the bed in substantially a fixed position, one element of each of the said control means each having a connection to initiate a raising or a lowering of the bed structure to the assumed position, and means positioned in one of the control units for temporarily disabling the operation of the other control unit while retaining its own operational control.

8. The bed structure claimed in claim 2, comprising, in addition, means for elevating and lowering a region of the bed between the head and foot to raise the said region out of a substantially planar state and to lower the said region to substantially a planar state corresponding to that of the entire bed structure, a console having a control means for effecting each of the raising and lowering operations, and a control unit adapted to be closed normally relative to the console for disabling for a selected time period the control operation with respect to each of a raising and a lowering of any section of any portion of the bed relative to the bed as a whole.

9. The bed structure claimed in claim 2, comprising, in addition, a collapsible means for positioning any section of the bed in a flat position, means for raising the collapsible means from its collapsed state to effect an elevation of any selected section of the bed relative to any other section of the bed with a raising of the collapsible means, and means for driving the collapsed means and changing its position between a collapsed and a raised state in a discretionary fashion.

10. The bed and control means as claimed in claim 2 comprising, in addition, means to position one of the control console means at the head end of the bed within reach of the bed occupant and means to position the second control console means in a region removed from a reachable position by the bed occupant so that the second control console means can provide both an interlock for the first control means, a disabling means connected with the second control console means for limiting the period of operation for the first control console means, and means for locking the second control console means thereby to preclude any positional change of the plane of the bed by other than authorized personnel.

11. The device claimed in claim 1 wherein the control means comprises mechanical means operative only from the supervisory control means wedge between the control from any but the supervisory position.

12. The device claimed in claim 1 comprises, in addition, means on the supplementary auxiliary control means for effecting movement of the bed to various positions.

13. A control apparatus for motor operation of a component sectionalized device to establish movement of component parts from at least two different separated locations remote relative to each other and with at least one movement being initiated by a motor operation under pneumatic control which comprises a plurality of pairs of connected bellows members which tend, with expansion and contraction, to effect a movement of the connecting parts in opposite directions, switch means connected to be opened and closed by the movements initiated by the joined connecting component parts, a connection from one of the separated locations to deliver at any one time an activating pulse to one of the bellows members of each pair to effect the said movements, means at the other of the separated locations for disabling the pneumatic control with actuation at selected time periods, and means at the last named location for providing an independent control of each of said switch means at all times.

14. The control apparatus claimed in claim 13 comprising, in addition, a link mechanism between each two of the pairs of bellows members to form a plurality of separately controlled elements, an electrical switch means connected to be controlled by each of the link mechanisms so that with energization of one of the bellows members of each pair connected thereto the link means is adapted to close a switch element for energization of the other bellows of the pair the link mechanism is adapted to open the switch control.

15. The control apparatus claimed in claim 14 comprising, in addition, guide means for permitting each link mechanism between the bellows of each pair to be moved in a reciprocal fashion with energization of one of the bellows members, and a lock-out means connected with each link mechanism to lock out movement of the said slideable link so that the pneumatic control is rendered ineffective and inoperative during activation of the lock-out.

16. Apparatus for controlling the movement of a bed structure by two control mechanisms each adapted to move the bed and sections thereof to selected positions, means for establishing a mechanical control from either one of the mechanisms, means for disabling one of the control mechanisms from the other comprising a slideable mechanical element and wedge means supported to prevent movement of the mechanical element by the first control element, said last named means being manually and selectively operable from the same control mechanism, and means at the second control mechanism to provide desired movement while maintaining control from the first mechanism in question.

17. The apparatus claimed in claim 16 comprising, in addition, pneumatic means to initiate movement of the slideable mechanical element from the first control position.

18. The apparatus as claimed in claim 17 comprising, in addition, a pair of slideable mechanical bar means adapted to be moved in opposite directions by the first control element to effect movement of selected sections in opposite directions, and wedge means controlled only from the second control element to preclude bed movement in either direction from the first control mechanism while retaining a movement control from the second control mechanism.

19. A device for providing a supervisory control of the movement of a sectional bed structure supported within a frame which comprises means located external to the bed structure for effecting a preestablished positional control of at least a part of the bed structure to change its position relative to the supporting frame, said control means comprising a pair of control units spaced from each other and interconnected normally to effect the positional change of the bed by the operation of either of the control units, and means connected with one of the control units for temporarily disabling the control by the other control unit while retaining the control by the first-named control unit.