US2536707A - Attachment for hospital beds - Google Patents

Description

M. ALLYN ATTACHMENT FOR HOSPITAL BEDS Jan. 2, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Filed May 9, 1947 Jan. 2, 1951 M. ALLYN 2,536,707

ATTACHMENT FOR HOSPITAL BEDS Filed May 9, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 i uuimi i ruml "KEEN-1H1.

Jan. 2, 1951 ALLYN ATTACHMENT FOR HOSPITAL BEDS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 9, 1947 Patented Jan. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE AT-TAGHMENT FOR HO SPILTAL, BEDS Martha Allyn, West Haven, C'onn..

Applicatiunr May9;.1947, Serialfi No. 747:,061

4' Claims. 1

This, invention. relates. to an apparatus for use with hospital. beds, and more: particularly to an apparatus designed for use in handling patients confined. to. beds.

Itis often convenient to raise an invalid or bedv patient from the mattress of the bed for various reasons, and the present invention pro-- vides a device which performsthisfunction with.- out excessive effort on. the partof. the operator. Moreover, when a patient is confined to a bed, there is a tendency for the patient to slip toward the foot of the bed. and it is necessary to. movethem toward the head. This: often. isdi-fficult. for anurse to do, particularly if the patient is heavy.

I also contemplate: by the present invention the provision of a device by which the patient: maybe moved toward the foot or the head of the bed. conveniently and easily and without excessive effort on the part of. the nurse or the person takins care of the. patient.

The apparatus of the. present; inventioncomprises a device or frame which is supported from. the floor adjacent the bed, and which may be readily disassembled into four sections, each con.-

taining one of the corner posts of the frame; so i that the device may be readily detached from, or placed in cooperative: relation to; the bed withwhich it is used.. Supported upon. this frame which rests upon the floor is a belt or webt upon:

which the patient is supported, this web being 7 may be raised and lowered, so that the patient.

may be lowered upon the bed. mattress or may beraised above the mattress as desired.

When the patient is raised above themattress and supported by the: web or belt, the latter is: inclined to sag. To prevent excessive. sagging of the. web, a net-likeframe is provided below the: same. to limit. the. amount.- by which, itmay sag, this frame or support being formed of relativelywidethinv strips of metal or the like, sothat, while it will offer sufficient support to the. partition, it will not be uncomfortable when the. patient. lies upon it.

One object. of the. present invention isto provide a new andv improved device for use in handling bedridden patients.

v A further object. of the. invention is to provide: a frame which may be supported upon. the floor in. cooperative relation, to. bed. with which. it. is to be. used, the. device being separable into.

sections, so that it may be. readily assembled or disassembled.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described in which a web or belt is supported upon the upper ends of four uprights, which in turn are. carried by the:

four corner posts of the frame of the apparatus, the: arrangemen-ts. being. such that. the uprights may be sinmltaneousl-y raisedandlowered, so that the. weight of the patient may be carried by the mattress of the bed when the web is in its lower position, or so that the patient may be raised from the: mattress and: the weight carried by the web when it is in an: upper position. v

A still further object of, the invention is to provide in a. device of the character described above means for preventing excessive sagging of the web when the patient is supported thereon.

To these and other endsthe invention consists in the novel: features and combinations of parts tc-be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the: accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus embodying my invention Fig. 2is a sectionalview of one end of the apparatus taken.on1ine-2'-2. ofv Fig. 3 ;1

Fig. 3 is an end elevational. view of the appa ratus;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional View of the apparatus on line 4 t of Fig; 9;

Fig. 5 is a; detail, sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig, 6* is a fragmentary detail view of one of the floor-supports;-

Fig. 7 is a sectional. View showing the manner of. joining the horizontal tubular frame members of the attachment;

Fig. 8 isa view taken on line 8B- of Fig. 9, showing the supporting frame; and

Fig. 9- is a side elevational view of the apparatus shown in cooperative position with relation tothebed.

'lio iil-ustratera preferred embodiment of my invention and its relation with respect to a bed with: whichit is toibe usedl have shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings abed frame comprising a head member 58, afoot port on H, side rails l2, and theusual mattress i=3, allof which may be of the usual form as no of the preesnt invention reiatestothe construction of the bed itself.

The device for supporting and. handling the patient comprises a frame which includes four cerner posts M, these posts preferably being hollow. To each. of these corner posts is secured by any suita. le method, such as welding, for example, an. L-shaped bracket 55,. the posts being sec; e at the angle of the bracket, so that one t arms of the bracket extends transversely: than .me and. the other longitudinally of the ne. To each of the. brackets i5 is. secured a tubular frame member it: which extends longitudinally of the frame and a second tubular frame member iiwhich extends transversely of the frame or across the end. thereof. The longitudinally extending members it may be secured togather when the parts; are in assembled relation by a tubular coupling member [8, which, as shown more particularly in Fig. 7, telescopically receives the adjacent end portions of the members I6, and is detachably secured in place by headed pins [9, which pass through the coupling member and through openings in the frame member 15.

In like manner, as shown in Fig. 4, the transverse frame members H are detachably secured together by a coupling member 25 and pins 2! similar to the coupling member l8 and pins i9 previously described. With this construction, it will be seen that, when the pins [9 and 2| are removed, the coupling members l8 and 20 may be moved to release the frame members it and I1, whereby the frame construction thus far described may be separated into four parts, each part being substantially one-quarter of the frame and comprising one of the corner posts M.

It may also be noted that, as shown in Figs. 1

and 9, for example, the longitudinally extending frame members it adjacent the head It of the bed is slightly longer than the corresponding member i adjacent the foot of the bed, so that the coupling member is is not precisely at the longitudinal center of the device. This arrangement enables the securing to the longer frame member it a supporting foot 23, shown more especially in Fig. 6, which supporting foot tends to support the frame between its ends.

As shown in this figure of the drawings, the foot 23 is provided with forked upper legs 2 and 25 provided with eyes 26 and Z'l which are pivoted to brackets 28 and 29 secured to the frame members it, so that the foot members 23 may be folded upwardly to an out-of-the-way position when the weight of the patient rests on the mattress cf the bed and is not carried by the supporting frame of the lifting device. It will be understood, of course, that there is a foot 23 at each longitudinal side edge of the bed, as shown in Fig. 1.

As has already been stated, the corner posts It are hollow, and in the upper ends of each of these posts is slidably received a tubular member 3i having rack teeth 32 provided thereon adjacent its lower end. Also, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings, a shaft 33 is journalled in the h that, when the shaft 33 is rotated, the members 3! which telescope in the corner posts M will be raised and lowered. It will be understood that there is one of the shafts 33 at the head and another at the foot of the frame, and each of these shafts are divided adjacent its central part, the two sections of the shafts being secured together by a detachable coupling member 35 similar to the coupling members it and 2%, so that the device may be separated into the quarter sections previously described.

Also journalled in the transversely extending portions of the bracket members I5 is a longitudinally extending shaft 3?, this shaft being broken into three sections and provided with coupling members 38 securing the sections together, as shown more especially in Fig. 1. At each end of the shaft 3'! is a crank handle 39 by which it may be rotated, and also adjacent each end of this shaft a worm 40 is secured thereon, which worm meshes with a pinion 4| secured upon the shaft 33. It will be apparent that, with this construction, rotation of the shaft 31 by one of the cranks 39 either at the head or foot of the frame will effect rotation of the pinions 4i and of the shafts 33, which will in turn effect rotation of the pinions 34 to raise or lower the corner supporting elements 3 I.

Mounted upon the supporting elements 3! is the device for supporting the patient. Telescopically received over the upper ends of each of the members 3| is a sleeve 45, each of these sleeves being slotted transversely to receive bearing blocks 46 and 41, in which blocks are rotatably mounted shafts 48 and 48 to which are secured rolls 5!} and 5!, which rolls will preferably be formed of rubber or similar friction material having a certain amount of resilience, so that the bite between these rolls may be adjusted in a manner similar to that of the ordinary clotheswringer. An adjusting screw 52 secured at the top of each of the sleeves 45 will serve to adjust or release the pressure upon the rolls 5i! and 5|.

At one end of each of the shafts 48 and 49 are secured meshing pinions 53 and 54, and each of the shafts is extended slightly at one end from the adjacent sleeve 45, and is provided with a squared end 55 to which may be fitted a crank 56 (Fig. 1) whereby rotation of the rolls may be effected.

Trained about the upper rol s 5! at the head and foot of the frame is an endless belt 53, which may be made of heavy webbing, such as canvas, for example, so that it will be of sufficient strength to support a patient. By rotation of the cranks 55, the upper run of the belt 53 upon which the patient is supported may be moved toward the head or foot of the frame, and, therefore, toward the head or foot Of the bed, thus moving the patient in one direction or the other. In order that the weight of the patient upon the web will not tend to bend the corner posts of the frame inwardly, braces 59 may be provided at each corner, these braces extending longitudinally of the frame.

Secured to the sleeve members 45 at the head of the frame and, likewise, at the foot of the frame and extending transversely of the frame are transverse elements Bil (Fig. 4) to provide the end members for the supporting frame shown in Fig. 8, which frame lies below the lower rollers 50. This frame is made of a plurality of relatively wide thin metal straps 6! which may, if desired, be covered with fabric or the li e, although this is not necessary. Extending transversely across the longitudinal members 8! are similar relatively wide and very thin straps 62 which may be secured to the straps 5| by welding, riveting, or in any desired fashion. This structure forms a very thin supporting frame which will prevent the belt or web 58 from sagging unduly and will normally support the patient when the web 58 is in its raised position, as the latter will normally sag enough for the weight of the patient to be carried by the longitudinally extending metal straps 5 i It will be noted that, while the upper and lower runs of the web 58 are shown in taut condition in Fig. l, which will be the case when no weight is carried thereby, nevertheless, when a patient is carried on the webbing, it will normally have sufiicient stretch, so that the runs will sag down upon the longitudinally extending straps 55, but, as the latter are made of metal and will, therefore, not stretch to an appreciable extent, any further sagging of the endless web 58 will be prevented.

As shown in Fig. 9, the frame of my device is slightly shorter than the frame of the bed, so that the transversely extending members I1 will pass under the bed rails I2 between the head and foot of the bed. With this construction, it willbe seen that, when the frame of my device is 'disassembled into its quarter sections, as described above, it may be readily set up in cooperative relation with the bed simply by sliding the transverse members ll under th bed rails from each corner thereof and connecting these members by the coupling members 20 and also connecting the longitudinal members l6 by the coupling Y members I8. In a similar manner, the device may be readily removed from the bed if its use is not desired by detaching the coupling members I and 20, thus Separating the device into the four sections, so that it may be readilyremoved. It will, of course, be understood that the coupling members 35 and 38 will likewise be detached, so that the shafts 33 and 3'! are likewise separated into sections.

It will also be understood that ,the sleeves 45 telescope freely over the upper ends of the members 3|, although making a snug telescopic fit therewith. Therefore, after the frame of the device has been put into place, the upper frame comprising the rolls 50 and 5!, together with the sleeves 45 and transverse members 60, may be put in place with the sleeves 45 telescoping over the elements 3 I. When it is desired to disassemble the device, this upper supporting frame is, of course, removed prior to the detachment of the coupling members 18 and 20.

The upper and lower runs of the belt 58 may be provided with openings or slots, as shown at 58 (Fig. 1) to facilitate the use of a bedpan by the patient. Also, it may be noted that by detaching one of the coupling members 38 on the longitudinal shaft 31 either end of the upper supporting frame may be raised or lowered independently 0f the other end, so that the height of one end of this frame may be adjusted relatively to the other end.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided a device which may be economically constructed and which may be easily and conveniently assembled and disassembled in cooperative relation with a bed, and that with the use of the device the patient may be either lowered upon the bed mattress as will normally be the case, or when it is desired the patient may be raised from the mattress and comfortably supported in a position above the mattress.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a generally rectangular frame comprising corner posts, transverse end members connecting the posts at the end of the frame, longitudinal side members connecting the posts at the sides of the frame, each of said members being divided into sections, one end of each section being secured to each of said posts, detachable coupling members for securing the sections together between the posts whereby the frame may be disassembled into four sections, a belt member, means for supporting said belt member above the frame for raising and lowering movements, non-extensible supporting straps below said belt member to prevent sagging of the latter, an L-shaped bracket member carried by each of the corner posts, a longitudinally extending section shaft mounted in two of said brackets at one side of the frame, and coupling members connecting together the sections of said shaft, said shaft being connected to said supporting means.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a generally rectangular frame comprising tubular corner posts, end and side members joining said posts, an upright telescopically received in each of said posts, means for raising and lowering said uprights, a cylindrical roller detachably supported by the uprights at each end of the frame, an endless belt supported by said rollers, a cooperating cylindrical roller mounted adjacent each of said first-named rollers whereby the belt is gripped between cooperating pairs of rollers, means for adjusting the pressure between the cooperating pairs of said rollers, and means for driving said rollers in unison.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a generally rectangular frame comprising tubular corner posts, end and side members joining said posts, an upright telescopically received in each of said posts, means for raising and lowering said uprights, a sleeve detachably secured to each upright, bearings carried by each of said sleeves, a pair of rollers rotatably supported by the bearings at each end of the frame, a belt carried by said rollers, means for adjusting one roller of each pair with respect to the cooperating roller to grip the belt therebetween, and means for driving said rollers.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a generally rectangular frame comprising tubular corner posts, end and side members joining said posts, an upright telescopically received in each of said posts, means for raising and lowering said uprights, a roll detachably supported by the uprights at each end of the frame, an endless belt supported by said rolls, said raising and lowering means comprising rack teeth on said upright, a shaft mounted in the frame at each end thereof and having pinions thereon meshing with said rack teeth, a third shaft extending longitudinally of the frame and drivingly connected with both of said first-named shafts, said end members comprising detachably connected sections, said side members comprising detachably connected sections, said longitudinal shaft also comprising detachably connected sections whereby the structure may be readily disassembled, L-shaped bracket members supported upon each of said corner posts, and said shafts being rotatably mounted in said bracket members.

MARTHA ALLYN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 607,607 Rimmelin July 19, 1898 1,082,177 Skefiington Dec. 23. 1913 1,100,401 Shaffer June 16, 1914 1,694,172 Gallowitz Dec. 4, 1928 2,208,410 Carter July 16, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 23,954 Great Britain of 1909 665,431 France May 6, 1929

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