Wheel Chair to Assist in Lifting a Fallen Patient
A low profile patient assist device is provided. The device may comprise five panels, including a center panel, a pair of intermediate panels, and a pair of end panels. Alternatively, the device may comprise a seat panel, a back panel, and a removable winch panel. In the first embodiment, the intermediate panels are interlocked so that they always remain parallel to one another. The end panels operate independently of one another. The device further includes a power means to raise and lower the center panel or the seat panel, which in turn raises and lowers the other panels. A pair of U-shaped support bars mechanically may support a pair of parallel structural beams so that the device can be positioned over a standard toilet from either direction. Further, means is provided to mechanically assist a patient onto the device.
This is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/907,902 filed Apr. 20, 2005.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to the field of hospital equipment and, more particularly, to an articulated wheelchair which presents a low profile to the floor to assist a healthcare worker in placing a patient on the wheelchair.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONVarious apparatus known in the art are commonly used by healthcare providers to transport patients from one place to another. For example, wheelchairs are commonly used to move patients in all kinds of medical care or retirement environments while the patient sits in the wheelchair in a vertical position. For another example, gurneys are used in hospitals, nursing homes, and other places to move patients from one place to another while the patient remains in a substantially horizontal position. All too often, patients in such environments fall and end up lying on the floor and health care providers have a difficult time in lifting the patient onto a wheelchair, gurney, or bed.
Unfortunately, injuries often occur to healthcare providers and to patients when patients are lifted from the floor. In the art, there is just no easy way for a healthcare worker alone to get down to the level of the patient and lift the patient to a chair or bed. All too often, fewer than three people are available to move a patient from the floor. In fact, nurses and orderlies are often called upon to attend to patients alone. This can easily result in back strain for the nurse or orderly, and despite the nurse's best efforts, may result in injury to the patient.
Thus, there remains a need for means to assist in lifting a patient from the floor onto a device such as a wheelchair or a gurney. Such a device should be simple and inexpensive, yet safe to the patients it serves. The device should allow a healthcare worker to lift a patient without a great deal of physical effort, and permit the healthcare worker to perform the task alone. The present invention is directed to filling this need in the art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention addresses these and other drawbacks in the prior art by providing a convertible bed or gurney and wheelchair that flexibly converts from one mode to the other mode with the patient's head at either end of the device, and including a winch device to easily and safely move a patient onto the device.
The gurney/wheelchair of this invention is thus bi-directional. In a first embodiment, the device comprises five panels, including a center panel, a pair of intermediate panels, and a pair of end panels. The intermediate panels are interlocked so that they always remain parallel to one another. The end panels operate independently of one another. The device further includes a power means to raise and lower the center panel, which in turn raises and lowers the other panels. A pair of U-shaped support bars mechanically support a pair of parallel structural beams so that the device can be positioned over a standard toilet from either direction in respect of the device of this invention. Further, means is provided to mechanically assist a patient onto the gurney/wheelchair.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, only two such panels are integral to the articulated chair, but a hoist panel is attachable to the device when needed to lift a patient from the floor. The device of this embodiment presents a low profile so that the chair can be cantilevered over a hospital bed to minimize the effort is moving a patient from the bed onto the device. This low profile feature of the invention also enables the healthcare worker to lower the seat of the device until it is a close as possible to the floor.
These and other features, objects, and advantages will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art from a review of the following detailed description along with the accompanying drawing figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSSo that the manner in which the above recited features, advantages, and objects of the present invention are obtained and can be understood in detail, more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to the embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings.
Referring to
The device, which defines a stretcher/wheelchair 12, comprises five panels, including a center panel 14, a pair of intermediate panels 16 and 20, and a pair of end panels 18 and 22. The panels are connected to adjacent panels by hinges 24, 26, 28, and 30, as illustrated. The hinge 26 connects the end panel 18 and the intermediate panel 16 and this hinge operates independently of the other hinges. The hinge 26 includes a plurality of grooves or holes adapted to receive a spring loaded plunger 29, so that the hinge 26 may be releasably secured in any of a variety of positions. Similarly, the hinge 30 connects the end panel 22 and the intermediate panel 22 and this hinge operates independently of the other hinges, and is preferably constructed in a manner previous described in respect of the hinge 26. The hinges 24 and 28, however, operate together with a linkage in a manner shown and described below.
The center panel 14 is coupled to a complementary pair of parallel bearing sleeves 32 and 34, by which the entire stretcher 12 slides up or down along a pair of parallel stanchions 36 and 38. The stanchions 36 and 38 are supported at their lower ends by a wheeled base 40 having wheels 41, preferably four of such wheels. Preferably, the two wheels adjacent the operator or healthcare provider are provided with foot-operated brakes. The wheeled base 40 comprises a pair of parallel bars 42 and 44, which are joined together by two U-shaped bars 46 and 48, as shown best in
The center panel 14 is built like a toilet seat, with an opening 58 in the center, so it can be used as a toilet seat or as an access opening to a patient's private parts when the patient is in the shower being scrubbed by a nurse. The intermediate panel 16 is formed of an outer metal frame 60 and a mesh covering 64, which allows water to be sprayed upon a patient's back, particularly in a shower. Similarly, the intermediate panel 20 is formed of an outer metal frame 62 with the mesh covering 64.
The end panels 18 and 22 alternately serve as a foot rest or as a handle to push the wheelchair, depending on whether the patient's head is positioned to the right or to the left. Panels 16 and 20 are always in a position parallel to one another due to a connecting linkage 80. The end panel 18 includes a central support plate 66 and access openings 70. Similarly, the end panel 22 includes a central support plate 68 and access openings 72. The access openings 70 and 72 provide access for a nurse's hands to operate a manual actuator 74 or 76 to operate the locking hinge 26 or the locking hinge 30 by manual manipulation of the spring loaded plunger 29.
In operation of the present invention, with the patient lying in a hospital or similar bed, the device 12 is wheeled to the patient's bedside with the device oriented in a stretcher-like position as illustrated in
It should be noted again that the device 12 is bi-directional, so that the patient's head may be located to right or to the left, depending on how he was lying in his hospital or similar bed, and the device can receive the patient in either direction. The patient does not have to be turned around in bed, or the device does not have to be turned around or carefully positioned from a particular side of the bed, which may not always be convenient or even possible.
Once the patient has been moved from his hospital bed onto the device 12, the stretcher can be raised to clear the bed. Once the device 12 is clear of the patient's bed, the patient can be transported with the device 12 remaining in a stretcher-like orientation, or the hinges can be operated to orient the device into a wheelchair-like orientation, as shown best in
If the patient's head is located to the left as seen in
Conversely, if the patient's head is positioned to the right as seen in
Furthermore, the panels 16-22 of the chair can be left in an intermediate position, as shown in
Referring once again to
There are two of these bars connecting the two side bars 42 and 44 to keep the bars 42 and 44 parallel and to provide greater rigidity and stability to the device 12. So that the two U-shaped bars move together simultaneously with a hand crank 84, they are connected by a bar 86 (
As previously described, one of the features of the invention resides in the fact that the intermediate panels 16 and 20 are interlocked together so that they always remain parallel to one another. This feature is shown and described in greater detail in
Referring first to
A simplified linkage 170 could be used, as shown in
As shown in
As illustrated in
FIGS. 20 to 23 are details of the winch 200, which consists of two spools 202 and 204, which are both mounted on a common shaft 206. The shaft 206 is able to rotate in bearings 208 and 210, which are held in base structure 213. The spool 202 is equipped with a ratchet wheel 212. A lever 214 carries a ratchet tooth 216, which is pushed into contact with ratchet wheel 212 by a spring 218. As can best be seen in
To pull the pallet 190 down and un-spool belts 196 and 198 from the winch, the ratchet can be put into a disengaged position, as shown in
To re-engage tooth and ratchet, tooth 216 is pulled up via pin handle 224 against spring 222, spring 220 can expand and push lever 214 back over ratchet wheel 212.
Those of skill in this art will appreciate that certain protective covers may be provided throughout the device 12 to protect patients and healthcare providers and to provide a more esthetic appearance to the device, without detracting from the structure and/or function of this invention.
The device, which defines a patient assist device 300, comprises a seat panel 302 and a back panel 304. For normal, routine operation for moving a patient from one location to another, the patient's bottom will rest upon the seat panel and the patient's back will rest on the back panel. The panels are connected by a hinge 306. The hinge 306 may be adjusted in angle by a ratchet element 308, for example.
The seat panel 302 is coupled to a complementary pair of parallel bearing sleeves 320 and 322, by which the seat and back panels slide up or down along the pair of parallel stanchions 36 and 38, as previously described in respect of the embodiment of
The device also provides a pair of hand rails 324 and 326 (see
The mechanism to raise and lower the seat panel 302 and the structure attached thereto may operate in the same manner as previously described in respect of
Finally,
The device includes a removable winch panel 362, which preferably hooks into a pair of outwardly extending pins 364. The bottom of the winch panel 362 rests against a shoulder 366 of the wheeled base 310 so that the which panel forms about a 30° angle with the floor. Also, note that since the winch panel is a distinct element (i.e. it does not have to serve a dual purpose as in previous embodiments since this embodiment is not bi-directional) the winch panel is preferably longer than the back panel 304. This feature of the invention is particularly advantageous in that it assists in bringing the patient P further onto the device.
The procedure for bringing a patient onto the device is the same as previously described. However, this embodiment preferably includes only one belt 370 coupled to the sheet of nylon 190, which is padded on top with the layer of foam rubber 192. This feature also simplifies the coupling to the winch 200.
The principles, preferred embodiments, and modes of operation of the present invention have been described in the foregoing specification. This invention is not to be construed as limited to the particular forms disclosed, since these are regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Moreover, variations and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.
Claims
1. A device for assisting a patient comprising:
- a center panel;
- a pair of intermediate panels joined with a first set of hinges to the center panel opposite one another;
- a pair of end panels joined with a second set of hinges to the intermediate panels opposite one another; and
- means to mechanically assist in bringing a patient onto the device.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein the means to mechanically assist in bringing a patient onto the device comprises:
- a. a winch;
- b. a pallet; and
- c. a strap joining the pallet and the winch.
3. The device of claim 1, further comprising means to raise and lower the center panel in a vertical direction, the means to raise and lower comprising:
- a pair of bearing sleeves secured to the center panel;
- a pair of vertical stanchions slidably engaged within the bearing sleeves; and
- a power mechanism to move the sleeves and the stanchions relative to one another.
4. The device of claim 1, further comprising a wheeled base supporting the stanchions.
5. The device of claim 4, wherein the base includes a pair of parallel bars, and further comprising a pair of U-shaped support bars rotatably mounted to the parallel bars.
6. A device for assisting a patient comprising:
- a. a seat panel;
- b. a back panel hingedly joined to the seat panel;
- c. a winch panel removably coupled to the seat panel;
- d. a winch mounted on the winch panel;
- e. a pallet configured to receive a patient in a prone position; and
- f. a belt connecting the winch and the pallet.
7. The device of claim 1, further comprising means to raise and lower the seat panel in a vertical direction.
8. The device of claim 7, wherein the means to raise and lower the seat panel comprises:
- a. a pair of bearing sleeves secured to the center panel;
- b. a pair of vertical stanchions slidably engaged within the bearing sleeves; and
- c. a power mechanism to move the sleeves and the stanchions relative to one another.
9. The device of claim 8, further comprising a wheeled base supporting the stanchions.
10. The device of claim 9, wherein the base comprises:
- a. a left frame member;
- b. a front frame member coupled to the left frame member; and
- c. a right frame member coupled to the front frame member, forming a backward facing opening to admit a toilet.
11. The device of claim 10, wherein the left, front, and right frame members are formed as a unitary article of manufacture.
12. The device of claim 6, wherein the seat panel includes a toilet access hole therethrough.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 30, 2007
Publication Date: May 31, 2007
Inventor: Rainer Kuenzel (Hunt, TX)
Application Number: 11/668,785
International Classification: A47B 7/02 (20060101);